Ohio Theatre

Michael the link you have posted is for the Ohio Theatre in Columbus, Ohio. The above Ohio theatre is in Cleveland, Ohio and is part of Playhouse Square. The other four theatres included in the Square are the State, the Hanna, the Allen and the Palace.

The former Loew's Ohio has had the auditorium restored as mentioned above, however the lobby here is not the original design. While Loew's was still operating it as a movie house in the early 1960s, there was a fire in the lobby completely destroying the Thomas Lamb design. It was rebuilt in a sleek modern design, I remember red walls, 1x1 acoustic tile ceiling, hi-hat light fixtures and no trace of the ornamentation left from the Lamb design. At the time of the post-fire repairs Loew's spray-painted the entire auditorium, dome, procenium and all, red. It had suffered only smoke damage but was otherwise intact. The lobby after the 1980s renovation is of a similar style as Lambs was, but not nearly as grand. The auditorium remains Lambs design, restored from the damage that occured after Loew's closed it down, but possibly a different color scheme.

BTW, the original seating capacity of the Loew's Ohio was 1800, today it is possibly less, since modern theatre seats are wider than seats manufactured in 1921.

Recent views of both the Ohio and State Theatre marquees can be seen here.

When I visited the Loew's Ohio booth in the 60s I found 3 Philips/Norelco 35/70mm projectors, Peerless Hycandescent lamps, and Simplex Sound.

This was a "roadshow house" at this time.

This is an interior view of the Ohio Theater in Cleveland.

Here are some photos of the former Loew's Ohio -
the red one is aprx 1971, after vandals broke in and set off the standpipes and damaged the plaster. the other two are the lobby and auditorium when it opened in 1921.
http://photobucket.com/albums/b123/dave-bronx/Cleveland%20Theatres/Loews%20Ohio/

A Moller organ Opus 2874 Size 3/17 was installed in the Loew's Ohio Theater in 1921 at a cost of $6450.00.

Lost Memory: Do you know if the organ that was installed in 1921 at a cost of $6450.00 is still in the Ohio Theater? And what about the Palace in Cleveland, too?

"Today, restored to its former elegance, the Ohio is used for smaller stage performances, concerts and live theater." Does "former elegance" include the Moller organ Opus 2874 Size 3/17?

I don't know what the status is on the Moller organ in the Ohio theater. The theater organ list shows four organs being installed in "A" Palace Theater in Cleveland, Ohio. The list shows a Hillgreen-Lane organ, (no date given) being installed in an Allen's Palace Theater. Next is a Kimball organ (no date given) being installed in a Palace Theater. Next is a Moller organ installed in 1920 in a Palace Theater. And last is a Wurlitzer Opus 1341 Style 260SP installed on 5/18/1926 in a Palace Theater. Status: Sold. Since the Palace Theater listed on this website was built in 1922, the Wurlitzer sounds like a safe bet.

The address listed above is wrong. It can't be 1260 Euclid Ave. if the State Theatre is 1519 Euclid and the Palace is 1615 Euclid and all three are on the same side of the street. It therefore has to be an uneven number. Does anyone know?

The address of the Ohio Theatre is 1513 Euclid Ave.

According to the Playhouse Square Website here are the venues and their addresses.
Allen Theatre,
1407 Euclid
Ohio Theatre,
1511 Euclid
Hanna Theatre,
2067 East 14th St.
Palace Theatre,
1615 Euclid
State Theatre,
1519 Euclid
14th Street Theatre,
2037 East 14th Street

This is a 1932 photo from the Cleveland Public Library:
http://tinyurl.com/f5glm

Lost Memory: Having just returned from Playhouse Square in Cleveland I have now answered my own organ inquiry posted earlier. The only organ left is in the Palace though I didn't see it during my recent tour. The tour included the Ohio, State, Allen and Palace. They are all located on Euclid Avenue with the Hanna Theatre nearby on 14th? In the 20's when all of these theatres were built Euclid was known an Millionaire's Row and the Who's Who List lived there and frequented these beautiful theatres. And thanks goes to basically one man, Mr. Raymond Shepardton for saving these theatres for future generations!

This is a recent photo showing both the Ohio and State Theater.

A book entitled "Cleveland's Playhouse Square" by Patricia M. Mote chronicles in words and photographs the Loew's State & Ohio, RKO Allen & Palace and Hanna theaters from their opening in the 1920s through 2006. It can be found in the Local Interest section of Cleveland area bookstores, and for those not in the area it can be ordered from the publisher at the following website:
http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=arcadia&Product_Code=0738540137&Product_Count=&Category_Code=

dave-bronx: Thanks so much for posting this arcadia publishing site as I plan to order a book since visting all of these theatres this past summer while in Cleveland visiting Ohio friends.

You're welcome!

The post-depression re-opening of the Ohio Theatre as a movie house (paragraph 2 of the intro above) apparently took place in 1943. Here are extracts from an item in the July 17, 1943, issue of Boxoffice Magazine: "CLEVELAND-- Reconstruction work at the Ohio Theatre, long closed, is going on apace. ...it is understood that this 1500 seat house... will adopt a motion picture policy. Rumor has it that the house will open about Labor Day with 'For Whom the Bell Tolls.'"

Did this theatre ever promote itself as a Cinerama theatre? The book Cleveland's Playhouse Square, has a picture of the Palace Cinerama theatre and below it says "The State and the Ohio also showed Cinerama films".

1968 photo of the Ohio, State and the Palace Theatres.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c35%2c3%2c-1&catpagesize=25&ProductID=29494

1969 photo of the Loew's Ohio with the Loew's State Verticle in the back.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c35%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=15&catpagesize=25&ProductID=31819

1982 night photo of the Loew's Ohio Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c35%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=16&catpagesize=25&ProductID=31861

I'm not sure about the Ohio showing Cinerama, but the State definitely did towards the end...... (70mm version)

Here are some new photos I took July 2009 of the Ohio Theatre. Finally, we now have a photo of the main lobby as it now looks (original ornate lobby was destroyed by a fire in 1964):

Exterior, front and back:

http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandohio01.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandohio22.jpg

Lobby:

http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandohio06.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandohio06.jpg

Auditorium:

http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandohio11.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandohio12.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandohio15.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandohio16.jpg

Backstage:
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandohio20.jpg

The Ohio did not show any Cinerama films, but was in the late 1950s and 60s a 70mm roadshow house especially for films in Todd-AO. I remember seeing "South Pacific" there. Cinerama was housed first at the Palace, then at the Great Northern, and finally at the State.

The Ohio also roadshowed "The Ten Commandments", "Around the World in 80 Days" "Oklahoma" ran here but in 35mm.

Ad for "The Ten Commandments" at the Ohio:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/modestospeed/1411909305/

Renewing link.

Made a mistake with one of my links above -- here's the other photo of the Ohio Theatre lobby:

http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandohio07.jpg

Good Site and Photos.

Did Cleopatra play the Ohio, does anyone know? I dont remember it playing there. (But I dont remember where it played if not, either).