Commonwealth Theatres closed up here at the expiry of a 25-year leasing agreement on October 29, 1972 with a triple feature of Robert Redford in “The Candidate,” Ruth Gordon in “Harold and Maude,” Richard Harris in “Man in the Wilderness.” The East Side National Bank & Trust Co. purchased the land and created a 9-story bank with the drive-in becoming its parking lot following its January 1970 demolition.
Local authorities forced the closure of the Hollywood Cinema on January 9, 1976 with Roy Scheider in “Jaws” on Screen I; a triple-feature of “The Bite,” “Love Lips,” and “Porno in New York” on Screen II, and another triple-feature on Screen III with Tina Russell in “The Birds and Beads, ” Barbara Bourbon in “Dirty Western” and Uschi Digard in “Touch of Sweden.” It was the two triple features that authorities had an issue with.
Closed as an art / discount house on June 14, 2007 with “Avenue Montaigne,” “28 Weeks Later,” “The Ultimate Gift,” “Disturbia,” “Hot Fuzz,” “Meet the Robinsons,” “Away From Her,” “Georgia Rule,” “Wild Hogs,” and Bug."
The roots of the Ashland Opera House date back to 1882 when the City of Ashland replaced a decade’s old city government building with a multipurpose Opera House Building at 140 Center Street. Fire damage in 1903 gutted the structure but architect Vernon Redding re-imagined the building keeping some of its original structure. The remodeled building housed the library, firefighter’s hall, and selected city government offices including the water department.
The Redding-drawn “New” Ashland Opera House had 1,150 seats with 550 on the floor, 350 in the balcony, and 200 in the gallery. Twenty years later, the city subleased the venue to present movies with the profit split in such a manner that the local mayor’s salary was entirely paid with the house’s proceeds. The theater’s 1923 remodel brought about a small projection booth. Excitement at the venue included a live appearance by Tom Mix and his horse, Tony, on its stage while on another day, Monte Blue appeared on the stage. The venue was known for its occasional “Potato Matinee” in which kids could attend a matinee by bringing a potato or potatoes which were then cooked by the hospital for patients and other needy folks.
Approval of Sunday shows was approved by Ashalnd voters in 1929 which allowed the venue to be converted for sound to remain viable. A permanent fireproof projection booth displaced a portion of the venue’s seating that cut occupancy to 750. The Schine Circuit took control of the venue in the 1930s but the building had two major strikes against it. The first was that the City of Ashland still owned the property and still - apparently - was to receive a share of the proceeds. The second, more important of the two issues - was a 1940 Oho State inspection that suggested that the building should not be used as a regular movie house due to safety concerns.
Schine and the City of Ashland couldn’t agree on the $20,000 needed to bring the building into safety for shows that could have as many as 750 patrons. That ostensibly ended any future that the structure had in housing a for-profit movie theater. The Opera House continued to hold sporadic and smaller live events for a period of time. Meanwhile, Schine would build the new Ashland Theatre to replace the Opera House and appears to have used the Ohio Theatre as a stop gap measure to complete the bookings.
The City of Ashland was challenged when it tried to sell the building for $72,000 to private interests. Once it won its case on appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, the building was razed. Just prior to that 1954 demolition, the ticket booth, the projection booth, the stage apron and orchestra pit were photographed for posterity. The new owner of the space built a retail location for a W.T. Grant Co., retail store followed by a J.C. Penney Store, and a Home Hardware store. Ashland’s local museum has artifacts from the Opera House including seats, footlights and other ephemera.
(Would prefer the Ashland Opera House as its marketing - ads and program books - generally used that moniker even though the building did not.)
This venue launched April 12, 1906 as the Orphium Theater. It was part of the Ohio-based Orphium Theatre Circuit of vaudeville that consummated mostly five-year deals with theatres in Ohio including the Ohio locations of Chillicothe, Lorrain, Bucyrus, Alliance, Xenia, Lima, Portsmouth and Sidney along with two Indiana venues located in Plymouth and Columbus. The Orphium of Chillicothe opened with Baby Irma Kirkhoff in “"Morning, Noon and Night” on the stage along with the Dancing Downs (aka the “King of Clogs”), Wiley-Ferris (the Irish-Japanese jugglers), Will Williams with illustrated songs, and Orphiumscope motion pictures. The Orphium Circuit promised female-centered programming good for kids and the entire family but bookings stopped in 1911 and the company was dissolved likely in 1912. The Chillicothe Orphium closed on September 7, 1912.
The venue was taken over by J.E. Beresford relaunching as the Royal Theatre - a venue where you could get a ten cent movie program for a nickel - after a refresh. That new name was part of a naming contest won by local resident Mary Burke. The Royal was a full-time movie house launching September 21, 1912 with Alice Joyce in “A Celebrated Case” supported by Bison Pictures' “The Arizona Land Swindle” shot at the 101 Ranch. The Royal wired for sound to continue flourishing.
In 1964, the Royal was refurbished becoming the Adena Theatre. It launched on september 24, 1964 with “Richard Burton’s Hamlet” presented in Electronovision. The Adena was one of just 100 theaters to present the Electronovision production, a high-resolution videotape process created by Horace William “Bill” Sargent Jr. for videotaping live performances for theatrical exhibition. The Adena showed more traditional films during its run before closing November 8, 1986 with the movie “Link.”
In 1991, much of its ephemeral material dating back decades along with all of its other contents were auctioned off as Renick’s Restaurant moved into a portion of the facility with the marquee removed. In 1998, the theatre had a short-lived run as Renick’s Backstage with the restaurant featuring a movie and dinner concept. It should also be known as Renick’s Backstage as well as the Orphium Theatre and Orphium Family Theater both with “i’s in their name.
The operators of the Madison Theatre in Albany reopened this venue as the Madison Theatre Hudson on December 17, 2021 with “Spider-Man No Way Home” as well as two holiday-themed repertory films with “A Christmas Story” and “Christmas Vacation.” The original relaunch was to have occurred late in 2019 but was delayed with a March 11, 2020 opening announced but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit closing most hardtop theatres in March of 2020, the opening was scrapped. The theater apparently had a soft launch in May of 2020 with to go food service before closing again.
The grand opening in December of 2021 was muted as the theater’s business model was compromised in its inability to secure a liquor license. And despite the reopening, the City of Hudson was indifferent to the venue which featured a restaurant but, apparently, a lounge unable to serve mixed drinks. The operators tried to buoy its operation by offering monthly and annual subscription plans for unlimited movie watching. The theater was unable to secure a liquor license leading to a challenging environment along with few major film releases after the big Summer of 2022.
The Madison Theatre Hudson closed with slow business and - yet - symmetry as the final films were “Beast,” “Bullet Train,” and, in time to both open and close the house, the reissued “Spider-Man: No Way Home (Extended Cut)” on September 14, 2022. Folks who bought the unlimited subscription to the theater were given alternatives. The name should be the Madison Theatre Hudson as the venue could reopen if a liquor license is granted.
The theatre went the name of Fairview III Cinemas for a lengthy period until closing on March 19, 2017. Cosmic Cinemas took on the venue as the Cosmic Cinemas Hudson on November 18, 2018 after a substantial $1 million refresh as a bar/restaurant. That investment was a disappointment with the theater closing a year later on November 24, 2019. So the venue was known as Cosmic Cinemas - Hudson and Fairview III Cinemas. I don’t see any operational period for this venue as the “Hudson Cinemas”. (And you can remove “renovating” from the listing.)
When the Delmar Theatre burned on September 29, 1926, the Cla-Zel became the primary theatre in town with the aging Lyric the back-up “B” theater. Clark M. And Hazel Young opened the venue fusing their first names as the Cla-Zel. It opened in 1926 with a Marr & Colton Symphonic Registrator Organ. Later operated by the Armstrong Circuit.
The Roxy Theatre opened under Jack “J.J.” Gutilla’s watch on September 6, 1938. This may have been the home of De Graf’s silent-era Ideal Theater renamed after a period of vacancy when conversion to sound was too expensive.
The final owners of the Roxy Theatre, Phil and Mary Christy, closed the venue in January of 1970 with no promise to reopen. The Roxy made a transition from a cinematic to biblio-centric existence when it converted to a bookstore, Anchor Books, on November 15, 1976. The venue later housed a City of De Graf annex that housed one of the safest public libraries in the nation sharing its space as of the 2020s with the local police department.
Cool shot of the building next to the Strand Theatre which - when the building was in its formative stages of being built - had a sign on the neighboring building that read, “The Gayety - New Home of Advanced Burlesque: You can bring your wives, sisters, sweetheart. Always a clean show. New Show Every Week.” That ghost sign reappeared here in February of 1951 after the former Gayety turned Strand (turned Telenews and back to the Strand) was razed.
Associated Theatres Circuit announced tha the Strand would be converted to a Telenews Theatre effective July 17, 1942. The former Strand marquee was donated to the war effort for scrap metal. After the War, the name reverted back to the Strand. It closed “temporarily” for the warm summer months after a double-feature of Jimmy Wakely in “The Lawless Hour” and and Adele Jergens in “Radar Secret Service” which turned out to be the final showings for the Strand on May 27, 1950.
The Strand Theatre was demolished starting late in 1950 through February 1951. Virtually everything was offered for sale by the Cleveland Wrecking Company.
This venue had 1,600 seats. Eastern Federal Theatres downgraded it to a second-run, discount house closing August 4, 1999 with “The Matrix,” “Entrapment, “The Mummy,” “October Sky,” “Never Been Kissed,” and “Instinct.” This became a house of worship for Faith Fellowship Ministries.
The Lincoln Drive-In Theatre opened on January 21, 1953 for African American patrons with “His Kind of Woman” with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. That policy lasted all the way until April 27, 1953 when the theatre closed with, “What Price Glory?” It rebooted on May 9, 1953 with its new policy excluding African Americans.
The animosity to potential African American patrons violating the policy were coded into ads and finally led to a lawsuit in July of 1967 with the NAACP and protestors involved. A Federal District Court ruled against the discriminating drive-in operator in late August of 1967. The theatre switched to an adult film policy according to reports. It would return to a mix of Hollywood fare and exploitation titles before closing permanently.
The Star-Lite’s last ad was on February 21, 1971 with an old-school exploitation fest featuring the venerable “See the Birth of Triplets (aka "Mom and Dad,”) Leon Ames in “No Greater Sin” and Kathy Hilton in “Fountain of Love.” Some 20 years later, the road that once housed the drive-in had been renamed Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
The Lee Theatre was opened by Cojac Theatres (a company with deep ties to Warner Bros. and was the type of relationship that led to the Paramount decree in the early 1950s). Opening film was Warner Bros.‘ Manhood with Edward G. Robinson on August 27, 1941. Frank Bail’s streamlined moderne architectural sketch of the new Lee is in photos. The venue was named after property owner Joe Lee and was built by Wheeler Brothers Contracting.
Commonwealth Theatres closed up here at the expiry of a 25-year leasing agreement on October 29, 1972 with a triple feature of Robert Redford in “The Candidate,” Ruth Gordon in “Harold and Maude,” Richard Harris in “Man in the Wilderness.” The East Side National Bank & Trust Co. purchased the land and created a 9-story bank with the drive-in becoming its parking lot following its January 1970 demolition.
The decorative map by Robert T. Atchinson that hung in the lobby showing the path of that Trail is in the background.
The Normar Theatre opened on April 3, 1929 with Nancy Carroll in “The Shopworn Angel.”
Local authorities forced the closure of the Hollywood Cinema on January 9, 1976 with Roy Scheider in “Jaws” on Screen I; a triple-feature of “The Bite,” “Love Lips,” and “Porno in New York” on Screen II, and another triple-feature on Screen III with Tina Russell in “The Birds and Beads, ” Barbara Bourbon in “Dirty Western” and Uschi Digard in “Touch of Sweden.” It was the two triple features that authorities had an issue with.
Closed as an art / discount house on June 14, 2007 with “Avenue Montaigne,” “28 Weeks Later,” “The Ultimate Gift,” “Disturbia,” “Hot Fuzz,” “Meet the Robinsons,” “Away From Her,” “Georgia Rule,” “Wild Hogs,” and Bug."
The theater closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 16, 2020 and then reopened Sept. 3, 2020. AMC closed here permanently on October 27, 2022
The roots of the Ashland Opera House date back to 1882 when the City of Ashland replaced a decade’s old city government building with a multipurpose Opera House Building at 140 Center Street. Fire damage in 1903 gutted the structure but architect Vernon Redding re-imagined the building keeping some of its original structure. The remodeled building housed the library, firefighter’s hall, and selected city government offices including the water department.
The Redding-drawn “New” Ashland Opera House had 1,150 seats with 550 on the floor, 350 in the balcony, and 200 in the gallery. Twenty years later, the city subleased the venue to present movies with the profit split in such a manner that the local mayor’s salary was entirely paid with the house’s proceeds. The theater’s 1923 remodel brought about a small projection booth. Excitement at the venue included a live appearance by Tom Mix and his horse, Tony, on its stage while on another day, Monte Blue appeared on the stage. The venue was known for its occasional “Potato Matinee” in which kids could attend a matinee by bringing a potato or potatoes which were then cooked by the hospital for patients and other needy folks.
Approval of Sunday shows was approved by Ashalnd voters in 1929 which allowed the venue to be converted for sound to remain viable. A permanent fireproof projection booth displaced a portion of the venue’s seating that cut occupancy to 750. The Schine Circuit took control of the venue in the 1930s but the building had two major strikes against it. The first was that the City of Ashland still owned the property and still - apparently - was to receive a share of the proceeds. The second, more important of the two issues - was a 1940 Oho State inspection that suggested that the building should not be used as a regular movie house due to safety concerns.
Schine and the City of Ashland couldn’t agree on the $20,000 needed to bring the building into safety for shows that could have as many as 750 patrons. That ostensibly ended any future that the structure had in housing a for-profit movie theater. The Opera House continued to hold sporadic and smaller live events for a period of time. Meanwhile, Schine would build the new Ashland Theatre to replace the Opera House and appears to have used the Ohio Theatre as a stop gap measure to complete the bookings.
The City of Ashland was challenged when it tried to sell the building for $72,000 to private interests. Once it won its case on appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, the building was razed. Just prior to that 1954 demolition, the ticket booth, the projection booth, the stage apron and orchestra pit were photographed for posterity. The new owner of the space built a retail location for a W.T. Grant Co., retail store followed by a J.C. Penney Store, and a Home Hardware store. Ashland’s local museum has artifacts from the Opera House including seats, footlights and other ephemera.
(Would prefer the Ashland Opera House as its marketing - ads and program books - generally used that moniker even though the building did not.)
Theatre Management Corp. closed here permanently following the July 28, 2022 showtimes.
This venue launched April 12, 1906 as the Orphium Theater. It was part of the Ohio-based Orphium Theatre Circuit of vaudeville that consummated mostly five-year deals with theatres in Ohio including the Ohio locations of Chillicothe, Lorrain, Bucyrus, Alliance, Xenia, Lima, Portsmouth and Sidney along with two Indiana venues located in Plymouth and Columbus. The Orphium of Chillicothe opened with Baby Irma Kirkhoff in “"Morning, Noon and Night” on the stage along with the Dancing Downs (aka the “King of Clogs”), Wiley-Ferris (the Irish-Japanese jugglers), Will Williams with illustrated songs, and Orphiumscope motion pictures. The Orphium Circuit promised female-centered programming good for kids and the entire family but bookings stopped in 1911 and the company was dissolved likely in 1912. The Chillicothe Orphium closed on September 7, 1912.
The venue was taken over by J.E. Beresford relaunching as the Royal Theatre - a venue where you could get a ten cent movie program for a nickel - after a refresh. That new name was part of a naming contest won by local resident Mary Burke. The Royal was a full-time movie house launching September 21, 1912 with Alice Joyce in “A Celebrated Case” supported by Bison Pictures' “The Arizona Land Swindle” shot at the 101 Ranch. The Royal wired for sound to continue flourishing.
In 1964, the Royal was refurbished becoming the Adena Theatre. It launched on september 24, 1964 with “Richard Burton’s Hamlet” presented in Electronovision. The Adena was one of just 100 theaters to present the Electronovision production, a high-resolution videotape process created by Horace William “Bill” Sargent Jr. for videotaping live performances for theatrical exhibition. The Adena showed more traditional films during its run before closing November 8, 1986 with the movie “Link.”
In 1991, much of its ephemeral material dating back decades along with all of its other contents were auctioned off as Renick’s Restaurant moved into a portion of the facility with the marquee removed. In 1998, the theatre had a short-lived run as Renick’s Backstage with the restaurant featuring a movie and dinner concept. It should also be known as Renick’s Backstage as well as the Orphium Theatre and Orphium Family Theater both with “i’s in their name.
Sorry - Madison Theatre Hudson
The operators of the Madison Theatre in Albany reopened this venue as the Madison Theatre Hudson on December 17, 2021 with “Spider-Man No Way Home” as well as two holiday-themed repertory films with “A Christmas Story” and “Christmas Vacation.” The original relaunch was to have occurred late in 2019 but was delayed with a March 11, 2020 opening announced but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit closing most hardtop theatres in March of 2020, the opening was scrapped. The theater apparently had a soft launch in May of 2020 with to go food service before closing again.
The grand opening in December of 2021 was muted as the theater’s business model was compromised in its inability to secure a liquor license. And despite the reopening, the City of Hudson was indifferent to the venue which featured a restaurant but, apparently, a lounge unable to serve mixed drinks. The operators tried to buoy its operation by offering monthly and annual subscription plans for unlimited movie watching. The theater was unable to secure a liquor license leading to a challenging environment along with few major film releases after the big Summer of 2022.
The Madison Theatre Hudson closed with slow business and - yet - symmetry as the final films were “Beast,” “Bullet Train,” and, in time to both open and close the house, the reissued “Spider-Man: No Way Home (Extended Cut)” on September 14, 2022. Folks who bought the unlimited subscription to the theater were given alternatives. The name should be the Madison Theatre Hudson as the venue could reopen if a liquor license is granted.
The theatre went the name of Fairview III Cinemas for a lengthy period until closing on March 19, 2017. Cosmic Cinemas took on the venue as the Cosmic Cinemas Hudson on November 18, 2018 after a substantial $1 million refresh as a bar/restaurant. That investment was a disappointment with the theater closing a year later on November 24, 2019. So the venue was known as Cosmic Cinemas - Hudson and Fairview III Cinemas. I don’t see any operational period for this venue as the “Hudson Cinemas”. (And you can remove “renovating” from the listing.)
Clark M. And Hazel Young opened the venue fusing their first names as the Cla-Zel (CLArk - haZEL)
Final operator - Armstrong Circuit
When the Delmar Theatre burned on September 29, 1926, the Cla-Zel became the primary theatre in town with the aging Lyric the back-up “B” theater. Clark M. And Hazel Young opened the venue fusing their first names as the Cla-Zel. It opened in 1926 with a Marr & Colton Symphonic Registrator Organ. Later operated by the Armstrong Circuit.
Plans - Bowling Green’s S. P. Stewart &. Son Architects
The Roxy Theatre opened under Jack “J.J.” Gutilla’s watch on September 6, 1938. This may have been the home of De Graf’s silent-era Ideal Theater renamed after a period of vacancy when conversion to sound was too expensive.
The final owners of the Roxy Theatre, Phil and Mary Christy, closed the venue in January of 1970 with no promise to reopen. The Roxy made a transition from a cinematic to biblio-centric existence when it converted to a bookstore, Anchor Books, on November 15, 1976. The venue later housed a City of De Graf annex that housed one of the safest public libraries in the nation sharing its space as of the 2020s with the local police department.
The Elder Theatre launched November 19, 1942 with “Priorities on Parade.” The architect was Fred W. Srezel.
Cool shot of the building next to the Strand Theatre which - when the building was in its formative stages of being built - had a sign on the neighboring building that read, “The Gayety - New Home of Advanced Burlesque: You can bring your wives, sisters, sweetheart. Always a clean show. New Show Every Week.” That ghost sign reappeared here in February of 1951 after the former Gayety turned Strand (turned Telenews and back to the Strand) was razed.
Associated Theatres Circuit announced tha the Strand would be converted to a Telenews Theatre effective July 17, 1942. The former Strand marquee was donated to the war effort for scrap metal. After the War, the name reverted back to the Strand. It closed “temporarily” for the warm summer months after a double-feature of Jimmy Wakely in “The Lawless Hour” and and Adele Jergens in “Radar Secret Service” which turned out to be the final showings for the Strand on May 27, 1950.
The Strand Theatre was demolished starting late in 1950 through February 1951. Virtually everything was offered for sale by the Cleveland Wrecking Company.
Open
This venue had 1,600 seats. Eastern Federal Theatres downgraded it to a second-run, discount house closing August 4, 1999 with “The Matrix,” “Entrapment, “The Mummy,” “October Sky,” “Never Been Kissed,” and “Instinct.” This became a house of worship for Faith Fellowship Ministries.
The Lincoln Drive-In Theatre opened on January 21, 1953 for African American patrons with “His Kind of Woman” with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. That policy lasted all the way until April 27, 1953 when the theatre closed with, “What Price Glory?” It rebooted on May 9, 1953 with its new policy excluding African Americans.
The animosity to potential African American patrons violating the policy were coded into ads and finally led to a lawsuit in July of 1967 with the NAACP and protestors involved. A Federal District Court ruled against the discriminating drive-in operator in late August of 1967. The theatre switched to an adult film policy according to reports. It would return to a mix of Hollywood fare and exploitation titles before closing permanently.
The Star-Lite’s last ad was on February 21, 1971 with an old-school exploitation fest featuring the venerable “See the Birth of Triplets (aka "Mom and Dad,”) Leon Ames in “No Greater Sin” and Kathy Hilton in “Fountain of Love.” Some 20 years later, the road that once housed the drive-in had been renamed Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
The Lincoln Drive-In Theatre opened on January 21, 1953 for African American patrons with “His Kind of Woman” with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell.
The Lincoln Drive-In Theatre opened on January 21, 1953 for African American patrons with “His Kind of Woman” with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell.
The Lee Theatre was opened by Cojac Theatres (a company with deep ties to Warner Bros. and was the type of relationship that led to the Paramount decree in the early 1950s). Opening film was Warner Bros.‘ Manhood with Edward G. Robinson on August 27, 1941. Frank Bail’s streamlined moderne architectural sketch of the new Lee is in photos. The venue was named after property owner Joe Lee and was built by Wheeler Brothers Contracting.