Renaissance Theatre

138 Park Avenue West,
Mansfield, OH 44901

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The Ohio (Renaissance) Theatre, Park Avenue West, Mansfield, OH

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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

Recent comments (view all 8 comments)

Patsy
Patsy on August 13, 2005 at 3:02 pm

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!

Patsy
Patsy on September 24, 2005 at 12:00 am

The Madison Theatre is now a park which is information I rec’d via an email from the Mayor of Mansfield Ohio.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on January 2, 2007 at 11:52 pm

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.

lostmemory
lostmemory on October 18, 2007 at 4:51 pm

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.

lostmemory
lostmemory on December 3, 2007 at 3:22 am

Here is a photo of the Renaissance Theater.

lostmemory
lostmemory on September 6, 2008 at 4:07 am

This is a nice 2008 photo.

DonLewis
DonLewis on November 18, 2008 at 12:23 pm

A 1996 view of the Renaissance Theatre in Mansfield.

Chuck1231
Chuck1231 on April 27, 2009 at 4:56 am

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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