Renaissance Theatre
138 Park Avenue West,
Mansfield,
OH
44901
138 Park Avenue West,
Mansfield,
OH
44901
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Built in 1928 with seating for 1,400, the beautiful and historic Renaissance Theatre is the only large theater in North Central Ohio and is the premier venue for a wide range of outstanding entertainment, including comedy, country, gospel, family entertainment, theatre organ concerts, The Miss Ohio Scholarship Pageant, and much more.
In the 1920¹s, Hollywood was booming. Movies were immensely popular, so the big motion picture companies were building magnificent theaters everywhere.
With a population of about 30,000 in 1927, Mansfield, Ohio, located in the heart of north central Ohio, seemed an ideal spot for a majestic movie house. And so the Warner Management Company spent $500,000 to build the Ohio Theatre.
Despite near blizzard-like conditions, the Mansfield News reported that thousands thronged to the theatre for the initial performance on January 19, 1928.
Firstnighters marveled at the beauty of the new theater and it continues to delight audiences today. The Renaissance was last renovated in 1984.
Contributed by
Cody Albert
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
It’s shame that the other theatre in Mansfield, the Madison Theatre hasn’t been restored as it certainly deserves to be since it is a John Eberson/art deco theatre of the 20’s!
The Madison Theatre is now a park which is information I rec’d via an email from the Mayor of Mansfield Ohio.
I note both Mansfield indoor theaters on Park Avenue West. There are newspaper articles from 1938 describing the opening of the Park Theater on South Park and Diamond Streets. This is most likely a separate theater, absent any information to the contrary.
Ken….There was a Park Theater in Mansfield, Ohio. Its not this theater and it was not another name for the Madison Theater. I don’t have a specific address but if you want to add the Park Theater, you could use the location of South Park and Diamond Streets that you found in the newspaper articles. Google will map that location as South Diamond Sreet and South Park Street.
Here is a photo of the Renaissance Theater.
This is a nice 2008 photo.
A 1996 view of the Renaissance Theatre in Mansfield.
1982 photo of the Renaissance Theatre.
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Another 1982 photo of the Renaissance Theatre.
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1983 photo of the Renaissance Theatre.
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The Cleveland Landmarks Commission’s list of buildings designed by architect Nicola Petti includes an unnamed theater on Park Avenue in Mansfield. The project was designed in 1927, but the list notes that it has been demolished.
As this is the only theater on Park Avenue that is listed at Cinema Treasures, and I’ve found no evidence that there was ever another theater on that street, perhaps the Landmarks Commission was mistaken about the Petti-designed theater having been demolished and it was indeed this house.
CinemaTour does attribute the design of the Renaissance Theatre to Petti, but doesn’t cite a source. The building is listed on the NRHP, but the Register’s web site says that the document with the theater’s information has not yet been digitized.
Joe, yes they are referring to the Renaissance. (Originally the Ohio Theatre.) It was designed by Nicola Petti and opened in 1928 in the “Grand Baroque” style. Not sure why they said it was demolished. Perhaps because of the name change in the 1980s? It’s still very much open and the centerpiece of downtown Mansfield. They built an amazing addition onto it in 2009 with a larger lobby, restrooms, offices and elevators. The other two theatres on Park Avenue were the Madison (built in 1930 in the Art Deco style and demolished in the early 80s after a valiant attempt to save it) and the Park, (built in 1938 also in the Deco-ish style and closed in the 60s.)