Posted February 6, 201015 yr For this thread, I focused on Ohio's small and mid-size cities, but Ohio's big cities have a great collection of theatres as well, from Playhouse Square in Cleveland to Columbus' King-Lincoln district, to Cincinnati's abandoned Regal. This site has a wonderful collection of photograhps of nearly every Ohio theatre in the late '70's/early 80's: http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=ohio&catpagesize=25&catpageindex=2 ADA – Ada AKRON - Civic AKRON - Highland ATHENS – Athena ATHENS – Varsity BELLEFOUNTAINE – Holland Interior of Holland (Heritage Ohio Image) BOWLING GREEN – Cla-Zel BRYAN – Bryan CALDWELL – Roxy CANTON – Palace CELINA – Celina CHARDON – Geauga CHILLICOTHE – Majestic COLUMBIANA – Columbiana/Main Street DAYTON - Victoria EUCLID – Lake/Lakeshore FAIRBORN - Fairborn FREMONT – Paramount GALION – Galion GALLIPOLIS – Colony GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE GREENVILLE – Wayne HAMILTON – Palace HILLSBORO – Colony IRONTON – Rona LIMA - Ohio LORAIN – Palace MANSFIELD – Renaissance (with the demolished Madison Theatre’s Marquee) MARIETTA – Colony Original Facade MARION – Palace (recently received an addition like Mansfield’s Renaissance) MASSILLON – Lincoln MAUMEE - Maumee MIDDLETOWN – Strand/Studio (demolition pending) MOUNT GILEAD – Capitol NORTH BALTIMORE – Virginia NEWARK – Midland NORWALK – Norwalk OBERLIN – Apollo (recently renovated) ORRVILLE – Orr (demolished shortly after I took this photo for a new CVS) OXFORD – Princess OXFORD – Miami Western PORT CLINTON – Clinton PORTSMOUTH – Columbia (the theatre behind this façade was restored and then burned) SANDUSKY – State SEBRING - Strand SIDNEY – Sidney SPRINGFIELD – Regent SAINT MARYS – St. Marys TIFFIN – Ritz TOLEDO - Ohio URBANA – Urbana WAPAKONETA – Wapa WARREN - Robbins (marquee missing) WOODSFIELD – Monroe WOODVILLE - Limelite WESTERVILLE - State YOUNGSTOWN – Paramount (now demolished) YOUNGSTOWN - State
February 6, 201015 yr Great idea. Indiana is bursting with them too. From Jeffery's Germantown (OH) thread: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,9373.0.html The BY-JO
February 6, 201015 yr Other theatres I can come up with off the top of my head: ALLIANCE – Mt. Union BEXLEY – Drexel CINCINNATI (Downtown) -Taft, Albee (facade, anyway) CINCINNATI (Oakley) – 20th Century CINCINNATI (Covedale) – Covedale CINCINNAIT (Clifton) – Esquire CINCINNATI (OTR) – Imperial, Emery, Empire (oops) CINCINNATI (Northside) – Park CINCINNATI (West End) - Regal COLUMBUS (Downtown) - Palace, Ohio, Southern COLUMBUS (University District) - Agora COLUMBUS (Mount Vernon) - King, Lincoln COLUMBUS (Clintonville) - Studio 35 COLUMBUS (Southeast) - Livingston COLUMBUS (Short North) - Garden CLEVELAND (Skaker Square) - Colony/Shaker Square Cinemas CLEVELAND (Detroit-Shoreway) - Capitol CLEVELAND (Downtown) - Allen, Hanna, Ohio, Palace, State CLEVELAND (Westown) - Variety CLEVELAND (North Collinwood) - LaSalle CLEVELAND (Buckeye) Moreland CLEVELAND HEIGHTS – Cedar Lee, Centrum MARIEMONT - Mariemont TOLEDO (Downtown) - Valentine
February 6, 201015 yr Even more than Cincinnati's Palace, Hamilton's Paramount, and Cleveland's Hippodrome, the demolition of Cincinnati's Albee will forever haunt me.
February 6, 201015 yr Yes, that Albee is really something. CINCINNATI (Downtown) -Taft, Albee (facade, anyway) I don't understand though, is the facade (or part of it) still standing? Just like the Albee haunts you, the Hippodrome haunts me.
February 6, 201015 yr Great thread idea. I'd been planning to post something on theaters named for the towns where they're located, but you even stole my thunder on that. I've got pics of the Bryan, Ada, Sidney, Celina, Urbana and Norwalk. You've added Galion.
February 6, 201015 yr The Albee's loss is unfortunate. I am impressed, though, with the saving of the facade and re-incorporating it into someplace else. I really really like efforts like those... it's even more impressive to know they made an effort like that in the 70s, when I'm guessing that wasn't so popular.
February 6, 201015 yr Great thread, I love old theaters! I have a photo of the Colony in Gallpoliz from when I was there doing sound for an MTV concert with Recording Workshop. I think I have a photo of the Majestic in Chillicothe also. What do you know about Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Center in Gallopoliz? That's where the MTV concert was and it was pretty much right next door.
February 6, 201015 yr I kinda dig that Urbana one. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 6, 201015 yr Amazing collection of pics!!! Thanks. On a very similar not, here's a article about Cleveland's downtown theaters http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2010/02/40_years_ago_a_spark_helps_cle.html
February 7, 201015 yr As a sucker for neon, thought I would see if folks have night shots of some of these wonderful facades. To start it off, this is the Galion Theater - opened in 1949. It has seen hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovation and restoration over the last 15 years, and currently houses the local community theatre. The facade is covered with porcelain enamel, and the giant black tubes actually hide lights which reflect off the green backdrop.
February 7, 201015 yr Add Salem to the list - the State Theater, now Salem Community Theater. It used to have a sign running from the marquee to the top of the building but that was removed: More info at: http://www.salemohiohistory.com/HistoryMakers/State-Theater.aspx clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
February 8, 201015 yr Sharonville also had a small theatre that has recently been transformed into the Sharonville Arts Center or something.
February 8, 201015 yr I'm not exactly sure, but I think the building in Canton was once Loew's. I remember going to the movies on that side of Market St, near the Renkert Building in the early 60s. The inside I can recall quite clearly but not the outside. It was a typically ornate movie palace interior, with an enormous crystal chandelier, strangely lit in purple. That sticks in my mind because my parents both commented on it. Downtown Columbus also had several other movie palaces that were torn down in the 60s. Memorable were the Grand and the Hunt's Cinestage. Both were in deplorable condition then, but could have been saved. We needed more surface parking apparently.
February 8, 201015 yr Youngstown's State Theatre: But, the building to the left, and the house of the theater was demolished. It looks more like this now: This is my best picture of Powers Auditorium. (formerly the Warner Theater) The interior is very nice. I was told that the lobby was modelled after the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. (not a very good match for the Art Deco exterior) The Palace Theater in Youngstown should also be mentioned. It was demolished long before I was even born, though. It was still in good shape when demolished. Legend says it was torn down because the powers that be thought a certain local developer was going to build a new shopping center there. But, the developer decided to build the Southern Park Mall in Boardman, instead.
February 8, 201015 yr I believe these are the 2 oldest theater buildings still standing in Cleveland. Please correct me if I'm wrong. First, is the Enjoy U theater near the intersection of Detroit & Lake in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. I believe this building was last used as an Artists' studio. As it says on the building, it's from 1911. From Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: "By the time of World War I, the city was dotted with silent movie houses bearing such fanciful names as Wonderland, Fairyland, Moonlight, Lark, See It, and Enjoy U." Anyone familiar with the West Side Market area in Ohio City will recognize this as the old Moda Nightclub-- very nice when it first opened, became much-maligned by the community, closed, and is still empty. It started out though as the Rialto Theater. From Cinematreasures.org : the Rialto opened on October 19, 1919 and closed in 1957.
February 8, 201015 yr neat thread -- i'm a little surprized it's taken this long to do a thread on all the great old ohio movie theaters! i know you like the small towns -- so from 2007 here is the amherst cinema
February 9, 201015 yr I stole this picture of Wellington's old Lonet Theater (ca. 1930) from ink's thread. It's the green tiled one on the left, and you'd never know it was a theater by looking at the facade today. Unfortunately the Wellington Historical Society's site is down, because I have seen a pic on their site of this building in 1931 when it was an active movie house.
February 9, 201015 yr ^If there's one thing Columbus does not have enough of, it's surface parking lots. Parking lots > historic movie theaters. The beauty of Columbus is that they really recognized the need to demolish their Downtown, and didn't let anyone stand in the way: Indeed: Downtown Columbus, due to suburban-style zoning codes applied to the urban core, in effect required demolition of great old buildings to accommodate parked cars a few hours per day. On the other hand, downtown Columbus has three beautifully restored theaters: the Ohio, the Palace and the Southern.
February 15, 201015 yr I'm not exactly sure, but I think the building in Canton was once Loew's. I remember going to the movies on that side of Market St, near the Renkert Building in the early 60s. The inside I can recall quite clearly but not the outside. It was a typically ornate movie palace interior, with an enormous crystal chandelier, strangely lit in purple. That sticks in my mind because my parents both commented on it. Downtown Columbus also had several other movie palaces that were torn down in the 60s. Memorable were the Grand and the Hunt's Cinestage. Both were in deplorable condition then, but could have been saved. We needed more surface parking apparently. I think you are talking about the old Ohio theatre. You can see it pictured here on the far side of the Renkert building. I know it's far away, but you can still make out the sign. Unfortunately, now it is a parking lot! The building that Rob pictured is on the near side of the Renkert building but I cannot makeout what it was being used as at the time: Edit: Here is where I found the picture. http://www.flickr.com/photos/34511002@N05/
February 15, 201015 yr Here's the Strand in Sebring - pardon the roll bar (and my partner's hair): clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
February 27, 201015 yr The long, long gone (25 years ago, I think) Lake Theater in downtown Painesville (Opened in 1939 on the same day Hitler invaded Poland. Guess which story was given the main headline in the local paper the following day?). Maybe it's a good thing it was demolished; it looked like the marquee was about to collapse-- http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
May 21, 201015 yr A couple that I don't think have been mentioned yet in Cleveland are the Moreland in Buckeye (the CDC working to redevelop this into a multi-use event venue, not unlike what's going on with the Variety) and the Metropolitan (which is now the Agora). Check out http://cinematreasures.org/, which gives great listings by city and status of the theater. But be ready to be depressed by the number that have been demolished. - Within a 10-mile radius of downtown Cleveland, for instance, they list 13 theatres as being open, 1 in renovation, 38 closed and 48 demolished. - Within 10 miles of downtown Columbus, 14 open, 15 closed and 16 demolished. - Within 10 miles of downtown Cincinnati, 11 open, 1 in renovation, 45 closed and 49 demolished. :(
May 21, 201015 yr Where in Paineseville was the Lake? I lived there in 1979 and I can't place it. It was on South State St. between Main and E. Washington (but closer to Main). I think by 1979 it was just showing second run, if not third run B-movies.* It was a huge theater for a small town--about 1500 seats, with a spare Art Deco interior. My high school held its graduation there. Angela's Pizza (an old style place dating back to the 40's) was next door (though maybe no longer around in 1979); and Phillipbar's (a paint/home improvement store going back decades) was across the street. *Note: Lake Theater closed for good in 1975. http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
December 18, 201014 yr man what an awesome thread! i cant help think about what was lost too, particularly in lorain, but you could say anywhere. while the lorain community saved the palace, it's too bad the other six(!) historic downtown movie theaters are lost: the state, the ohio, the elvira, the wonderland, the tivoli & the dreamland (now iglesia pentecostal church i think?) and also the old movie theaters in the city's other downtown in south lorain: the grove, the lorain and the pearl (opened 1915, demo'd 2003!). i remember going to some of them as a kid when they were decrepit dumps, but i bet more than a few could have been restored. :| the wonderland (1900-ish) here's the tivoli and the ohio in 1972 via cinema treasures: factoid: in 1928 the lorain palace was the first movie theater in ohio to have 'talking pictures.' factoid: probably the worst ohio movie theater disaster was the result of ohio's worst tornado, the 1924 saturday afternoon tornado that destroyed downtown lorain and particularly the crowded state theater (built 1900), resulting scores of injuries to the crowd of 200+ and somehow only 15 deaths.
December 18, 201014 yr ^ The Pearl Theatre building in Lorain was demolished within the past 10 years - I remember being in there when it was the Amvet's Value Village thrift shop and the interior had been totally gutted. The only remnant that let you know you were in an old theater was the sloped floor. The Grove theater became part of the American Croatian Club on Grove Avenue, but was demolished in the 1990's to build a cookie cutter Rite Aid store. http://www.americancroatianclub.com/club_history.htm
November 8, 201410 yr The long, long gone (25 years ago, I think) Lake Theater in downtown Painesville (Opened in 1939 on the same day Hitler invaded Poland. Guess which story was given the main headline in the local paper the following day?). Maybe it's a good thing it was demolished; it looked like the marquee was about to collapse-- I found this picture taken the same year Lake Theater opened (at least the Barbara Stanwyck movie is from 1939--w/ Adolphe Menjou-lol) and it already looked like it was on it's last legs. I don't remember the sign leaning like that! (admittedly not the best picture) I just recall how it looked at night with lights blazing brightly (I had read it was the last Art Deco building in Lake County :-()-- http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
December 13, 201410 yr There was a tour of the old Robbins Theater in Warren recently. Sadly I missed it but, a friend went and got some fantastic photos. I'll have to ask her if I can use them here. The interior is in far worse condition than I ever imagined.
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