For decades, Kansas City's historic Boone Theater in the 18th and Vine District has sat unused.
Now, the Vine Street Collective is breathing new life into this local treasure. The group is behind much of the district’s recent historic renovations, including Vine Street Brewing, Missouri's first Black-owned brewery.
The renovated Boone Theater is expected to open in February 2026 and will house several attractions, including the forthcoming Black Movie Hall of Fame.
Shawn Edwards, the director of the Black Movie Hall of Fame, plans for the space to become part movie theater, part exhibit and part event space.
He told KCUR's Up To Date that he hopes the Boone's revitalization will help put 18th and Vine — which is already home to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and American Jazz Museum — back on the map as an epicenter of Black culture and history.
"We want people to wake up every day and say, 'Hey, let's go watch Eddie Murphy's new movie at the Boone.' Or, 'Hey, let's go watch a stage play at the Boone,'" Edwards says.
Edwards commissioned Kansas City artist Warren "Stylez" Harvey to paint portraits of the freshman class inductees, all of whom have Kansas City ties: Gordon Parks, Harry Belafonte, Kevin Willmott, Janelle Monáe, Oscar Micheaux, Tressie Souders, Chadwick Boseman, Don Cheadle, Forest Whitaker and Hattie McDaniel.
Originally known as The New Rialto Theater when it opened in 1924, the Boone Theater was named in honor of famed Black pianist and Missourian John “Blind" Boone.
- Shawn Edwards, project director of The Black Movie Hall of Fame
- Warren "Stylez" Harvey, Kansas City artist