Springfield News-Leader
A now-defunct 20th-century movie theater, praised as a longstanding place of nostalgia and good feelings for the Monett community, is returning in miniature.
Earlier this month, a replica of the old Monett Gillioz Theater opened up inside the Monett Historical Museum. The museum is located at the center of town, which straddles Barry and Lawrence counties roughly 40 miles southwest of Springfield.
After collecting donations from more than 50 local individuals, families and businesses, the museum repurposed what used to be a storage space on its second floor. The 30-seat replica, like the much larger original, is named for legendary businessman M.E. Gillioz.
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A now-defunct 20th-century movie theater, praised as a longstanding place of nostalgia and good feelings for the Monett community, is returning in miniature.
Earlier this month, a replica of the old Monett Gillioz Theater opened up inside the Monett Historical Museum. The museum is located at the center of town, which straddles Barry and Lawrence counties roughly 40 miles southwest of Springfield.
After collecting donations from more than 50 local individuals, families and businesses, the museum repurposed what used to be a storage space on its second floor. The 30-seat replica, like the much larger original, is named for legendary businessman M.E. Gillioz.
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
By Mike Gervais mgnews@monett-times.com
Members of the Monett Fire Department watch a home video from 1982 in the little Gillioz Theater. Mike Gervais/mgnews@monett-times.com
Monett museum recreates historic theater
A year-long project to recreate one of Monetts historic social hubs at the Monett Museum has been completed.
In October 2020, the Monett Museum launched an effort to reconstruct a miniaturized rendition of the Gillioz Theater that stood on Broadway Street from 1931 to the 1970s.
From left, Monett firefighters John Vincent, Marcus Campbell, Jeff Ogle, A.J. Lamastus and Levi Pfitzner were the first to see the completed Gillioz Theater in the Monett Museum during a firefighter appreciation event at the museum. Mike Gervais/mgnews@monett-times.com