Casa Loma Ballroom

Casa Loma Ballroom is a historic dance hall in St. Louis, Missouri. It is located at 3354 Iowa Avenue in the city's Gravois Park neighborhood.

Casa Loma Ballroom
Former namesCinderella Recreation Hall and Dance Academy
Showboat Ballroom
General information
Address3354 Iowa Avenue
St. Louis, Missouri 63118
Opened1927
Technical details
Floor area18,000 ft
Website
http://www.casalomaballroom.com

History
Casa Loma Ballroom exterior in 2020.

The Cinderella Recreation Hall and Dance Academy was built in 1927 and later renamed the Showboat Ballroom. When Art Kawell and H. J. "Nap" Burian purchased it in 1935, it was again renamed; its new name, Casa Loma Ballroom, has remained.[1]

As its prices were lower than those of the other dance halls in St. Louis, it was known as a "working-class" ballroom.[2]

Mutual and CBS big bang remotes were broadcast to a national audience from Casa Loma in the 1940s. Bandleaders who played Casa Loma include Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Harry James (with Frank Sinatra in 1939), Herbie Kay, Stan Kenton, Glenn Miller, Freddy Nagel, Artie Shaw, Lawrence Welk, and Frankie Yankovic. Other performers who stopped at Casa Loma are Steve Allen, Tony Bennett, Bill Haley and the Comets, Bing Crosby, Rita Hayworth, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Rooney, Tom and Dick Smothers, and Andy Williams.[3]

Casa Loma burned on the evening of January 19, 1940. It reopened later that year with a major improvement: a 5,000 square foot "floating" dance floor consisting of maple on top of an inch of rubber.[2] It has 18,000 square feet and a balcony that overlooks the dance floor.[4]

Casa Loma Ballroom in 2020.

The ballroom, long the only one remaining in St. Louis, has been owned by Patrick and Roseann Brannon since the early 1990s. It hosts performances of swing, big band, jazz, and rock and roll music. Lessons in ballroom, waltz, fox trot, tango, Latin and swing dancing often take place before the live music begins. It also serves as a private and public events venue.[3]

The bandstand television program St. Louis Hop, hosted by Russ Carter, was filmed at Casa Loma Ballroom for part of its run.

Writer Elaine Viets used Casa Loma as a setting in the novel Rubout in her Francesca Vierline mystery series.[1]


References
  1. Lossos, David A. (2005). St. Louis Casa Loma Ballroom. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub. ISBN 0738533785. OCLC 60828797.
  2. Toroian Keaggy, Diane (6 September 2012). "A bygone era lives on at 85-year-old Casa Loma Ballroom". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  3. Merkel, Jim (3 September 2008). "This week in south side history: ballroom recalls an earlier time". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  4. Glaus, Heidi (16 March 2017). "Casa Loma Ballroom celebrates 90 years". KSDK. Retrieved 2019-04-19.

Further reading
  • St. Louis Casa Loma Ballroom (Images of America: Missouri) by David A. Lossos. Arcadia Publishing. (2005) ISBN 9780738533780

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