Dona Reynolds, Blog: March 2009

Historical Missouri Theater, a $1,000,000 1200 seat  "Movie Palace" opened in 1927, residents had watched the construction for over a year of the extravagant  "open air playhouse" while listing to bizarre stories of the exotic sculpture inside the building done by 20 year old Wayland Gregory.  Publix Theatre Corporation, a division of Paramount, owned the gala theatre.

The road of ownership was long and rocky for the first 50 years, the building still structurally sound, had fallen into a sad state of neglect.

In 1976 a non-profit Town Hall Center, Inc, was organized by a group interested in saving the theater from demolition or conversion into a multi-cinema facility.  It was their intention that the theater-serve a broad number of community purposes.  Following a massive educational campaign the electorate of St Joseph voted a bond for the purchase and renovation of the theater as a city center for the performing arts.  The City of St Joseph purchased the property as a city center for the performing arts in 1978.

The Missouri Theater's unique structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, as the citizens of St Joseph refused to allow destruction of one of the country's few examples of Hollywood-Oriental style.  A $1.9 million renovation project was completed in 2002.

Considered to be one of the four finest theaters in the United States, this Morrish style building features include a huge Bedouin tent ceiling and many sculptures including winged bulls, gods, and archers in combat.

Theatre employees last week saved the Theatre from a disaster, when a slow burning fire was discovered in a 100-year old grand piano that had been pushed against three electrical panels.

Thanks to the St Joseph community the Missouri Theater proudly lifts its curtain as the center of our diverse arts community.

In February 2009 there was 36 single-family residential closed sales in the City of St. Joseph, compared to 46 closed sales in 2008.  A breakdown of zones and the sales in each area are shown below.

St Joseph MLS is divided into 4 zones for the City of St. Joseph (in town)

**The statistics are for single family homes and do not include condo's, multi-family or out of the 4 zone areas.

Active Listings                       2009                                        2008

NE Buchanan                          114                                  139

NW Buchanan                         237                                  323

SE Buchanan                            29                                    45

SW Buchanan                          92                                   136

Pending Sales

NE Buchanan                           12                                     16

NW Buchanan                          16                                     25

SE Buchanan                             1                                       6

SW Buchanan                          19                                      11

Solds

NE Buchanan                           11                                        8

NW Buchanan                          14                                      23

SE Buchanan                             1                                        5

SW Buchanan                          10                                       10

Average Sale Price           Average Difference            Days on Market

                                                                  List price vs Sale Price

NE Buchanan               $120,218                    -27,909                  145

NW Buchanan              $108,943                       -6250                  103

Buchanan SE                 $29,000                       -5900                    94

Buchanan SW                 $93885                       -4635                  140

In comparing year over year it appears that there is a downward trend in the average sale price.  The average days on market has remained fairly stable.  In February 2009 there was 36 closed within the month. This is a decrease of 10 homes closed compared to 46 closed for February 2008. What must be stressed, however, is that these home figures still represent a healthy amount of sales.  

When selling a home in the St Joseph Missouri area you should heavily consider on pricing your home properly and picking an agent that will create an "on-line market presence" for your home, as more and more buyers are finding their homes on the Internet.                               

About the author:

Dona Reynolds is a St Joseph Real Estate Broker-Sales, Certified Residential Specialists, e-Pro certified who can assist you with the purchase and or sale of real estate in the St Joseph Missouri Area.  If you're relocating to or from any other area of the country,  Dona connects you with a member of her team of relocation professionals in your destination, at no cost to you.     

Dona Reynolds-Prudential Summers Realtors-800-279-2235

Disclaimer:  All information provided by this author is strictly an opinion, is not guaranteed, may be based on information collected from several sources, which may or may not be deemed reliable at the time of researching this article and may be time sensitive.

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