Ohio Theatre
3114 LaGrange Street,
Toledo,
OH
43608
3114 LaGrange Street,
Toledo,
OH
43608
4 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Ohio Theatre (Official)
Additional Info
Architects: Manfred M. Stophlet, Mark B. Stophlet
Firms: Stophlet & Stophlet
Functions: Movies (Film Festivals), Performing Arts
Styles: Neo-Classical
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
419.720.8952
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Oct 12, 2007 — Unstable facade on historic Ohio Theatre!
The Ohio Theatre opened its doors for the first time on February 28, 1921; with the film “The Mark of Zorro” starring Douglas Fairbanks. With 1,800 seats, the Ohio Theatre was Toledo’s third largest movie palace and was described by the Toledo Blade as ‘one of the most beautiful theatres in Toledo’.
Currently, the Ohio Theatre seats 964 and features live performances. The Ohio Theatre also produces an annual community-based musical, and sponsors a community chorus which performs concerts throughout the area.
The Ohio Theatre is also proud to be the home of The Toledo Area Theatre Organ Society. TATOS preserves and maintains the restored Marr Colton 4 manual 12 ranks theatre organ (installed in 1975 from the now razed Rivoli Theatre). TATOS presents concerts featuring well known organists and works diligently to maintain an important link to Toledo’s past.
The Ohio Theatre is operated by the Children’s Theatre Workshop which strives to preserve and improve the historic theatre for many generations to come. Restoration work began in 2008 and was completed in April 2013.
Contributed by
Evan J. Chase
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
Evan;
This is Mike Young in San Diego. How did the Ohio Theater facade crisis turn out. Also… I notice on this list a few Toledo theaters are missing, but then maybe they don’t qualify: The 1909 (?) Opera House in the Collingwood Arts Center, the i925(?)Shakespeare Theater at the Toledo Zoo, the stunning 1933 Peristyle at the Toledo Museum of Art, the Franscian Art Center (Sylvania), and the Stranahan Center on Heatherdowns Boulevard.
EvanC,
Any updates on The Ohio Theater in Toledo? From what I have read it appears the non-profit group that ran the theater sold it to a developer who is going to renovate the place then sell it back to them. Is this the case? Do you have a contact for the person who heads this non-profit group? Thanks for any info you can share.
Kind Regards,
stevepatrick
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The architectural firm was a local one named Stophlet & Stophlet. The Ohio was the only theatre they designed. It is another stadium style built on a lot which is not square, so the stage and the lobby are triangular in shape with a very small wall on the short side.
February 26th, 1921 grand opening ad can now be found in this theatre’s opening section.
Official website: http://www.ohiotheatretoledo.org/
This recent article in the Toledo Blade says that United North, the nonprofit organization that operates the Ohio Theatre and Event Center plans to begin showing first run art films and documentaries later this year. The Ohio, which broke even in 2013, will continue its various live events with movies worked into the schedule.
The article also contains some information about the difficulties art theaters have faced in Toledo in the past. Toledo itself has been without a dedicated art theater since the closing of the Southwyck Art Cinemas in 2001, and the nearest multiplex still showing such films on any of its screens is Cinemark’s Levis Commons 12 in the outlying town of Perrysburg.
An earlier comment by wcjfrisk says that the Ohio was the only theater designed by the firm of Stophlet & Stophlet, but this is mistaken. The Pantheon Theatre, opened two years earlier, was also their design.
Also doing film festivals.
2023 Update: The Ohio Theatre is now owned by Children’s Theatre Workshop, a nonprofit, 501c3 organization. CTW offers an inclusive environment for youth of all backgrounds, cultures, and lifestyles where they have the opportunity to study many aspects of theatre arts, develop valuable life skills, and produce quality plays.
CTW plans to renovate the theatre and is currently working with the historical society on their renovation plan.
The picture above is the Ohio Theatre at 3112 Lagrange. However it is an older picture and the buildings on either side of the Ohio Theatre have since been demolished. Also the theatre façade was struck by lightning and the prior owners were unable to finish the necessary repairs. Currently there is still scaffolding protecting the damaged part of the facade.
The Ohio Theatre is not currently an active movie house, though it can be rented for movie screenings. Children’s Theatre Workshop hold their plays and musicals at the theatre. And the Ohio Theatre is a welcoming and accessible venue for arts and cultural activities. More information including how to rent the theatre: http://historicohiotheatre.org/