Completed in July 1927, the Missouri Theater was built as a cinema in the atmospheric style, using a combination of Art Deco and Moorish detailing.

It was constructed by the Capital Building Company of Lincoln, Nebraska for local attorney and promoter Joseph Goldman.

The theater has a single balcony that looks over a house designed to resemble an open tented courtyard, decorated with details borrowed from Assyrian and Persian architecture.

While the theater was principally designed for movies, it could also be used for live performances, with dressing rooms, a fly loft and an orchestra pit.

In 1978 the city of St. Joseph bought the theater for use as a performing arts center.