History Lost: The Ambassador Theater

Before it was a plaza… before the fountain… There was a palace.

In 1926, the Ambassador Theater exploded onto the St. Louis skyline — 17 stories of pure spectacle, called “the greatest event here since the World’s Fair.” Six floors of velvet, marble, lights, and live music. Eleven floors of bustling offices above. It wasn’t just a theater — it was an experience.

Vaudeville gave way to silver screens. Cinerama wrapped audiences in cinematic wonder. Rock legends like Van Morrison and KISS later shook its walls. But glory faded, chandeliers vanished, and by the mid-’90s… the wrecking ball swung.

Today, water ripples where applause once thundered.

This is the story of a masterpiece we let slip away — the rise ...