Update: Fire damages former Broadway Theatre

Multiple fire crews battled a blaze Wednesday evening at the former Broadway Theatre in downtown Cape Girardeau.

According to a Cape Girardeau Fire Department news release, at approximately 5:30 p.m., crews responded to a report of smoke at the building, 805-809 Broadway. Upon arrival, crews saw heavy smoke and flames showing from the second floor. Crews quickly attempted to enter the structure but had to withdraw due to safety concerns. Crews switched to defensive mode and were able to extinguish much of the fire from ladder trucks which allowed firefighters to safely enter the building and extinguish what remained of the blaze.

Fire crews had the fire extinguished at approximately 6:30 p.m., and crews were on the scene for approximately three-and-a-half hours battling the blaze and overhauling the building. No one was inside the structure during the fire, and no injuries were reported at the scene. Approximately $300,000 worth of damage was caused by the fire.

The 800 block of Broadway Street remains closed Thursday morning, due to two unstable walls on the corner of the building. City engineers and the building's owner, Phil Brinson, are expected to determine what needs to be done with the building Thursday morning, the news release states.

Jackson, Scott City, East County, Fruitland and Gordonville fire departments and the Cape Girardeau Police Department provided mutual aid during the fire. The cause remains under investigation.

The Broadway Theatre first opened Dec. 24, 1921, when John T. Sackmann felt the city needed a more modern theater. Sackmann undertook financing of the new vaudeville and picture theater along with William Bartels, William Vedder, C.O. Hobbs, A.W. Blattner, Charles Boutin and Henry Sanders, among others. This group formed the Cape Theatre & Realty Co.

The Broadway Theatre building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015, and has been on the Cape Girardeau Historic Preservation Commission´s endangered buildings list every year from 2013 to 2020.

A development group planned to purchase the Broadway Theatre, along with the Esquire Theatre across the street at 824 Broadway, through tax-increment financing. An application was submitted by Cara Naeger of Bloomsdale, Missouri, on behalf of TAG (Together Always Giving) Development and Cape Theaters LLC. to assist in the purchase of the building for $227,000 in 2018. The financing agreement expired Dec. 31, 2019.