Comments from chippy1960

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chippy1960
chippy1960 commented about Renaissance Theatre on Sep 8, 2012 at 9:19 am

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.)

chippy1960
chippy1960 commented about Richland Mall Cinema I-II-III on Sep 8, 2012 at 8:56 am

I can still remember the movies I saw here in the 70s – Jaws, The Towering Inferno, Young Frankenstein, Grease… It’s been closed and abandoned for years. The last time it was in the news, they were reporting on how the building was overrun by a huge population of rats.

chippy1960
chippy1960 commented about Midway Drive-In on Sep 8, 2012 at 8:51 am

Saw a reissue of Psycho there in the 70s and they also rated it X. We were 16 year old kids – so we were amazed when they let us in. We knew nothing about the movie, so we kept waiting and waiting for the big sex scenes!

chippy1960
chippy1960 commented about Ritz Theater on Sep 8, 2012 at 8:43 am

Joe, I saw an old newspaper article that listed the Majestic’s address on Walnut Street. It said that it closed in 1941 and sat vacant until the following year when the a heavy snowfall collapsed the roof and it was demolished. I have a photo of it that I will post shortly.

chippy1960
chippy1960 commented about Park Theatre on Sep 8, 2012 at 8:36 am

Yes, the Park is now part of the Richland County prosecutor’s office. I did grand jury duty there two years ago and had no idea it had once been a theatre. It has been cut up into several floors and each floor is divided into many individual offices. You can tell from the exterior that it had once been a theatre, but wouldn’t have the first clue if you saw the interior.

chippy1960
chippy1960 commented about Ritz Theater on Jan 9, 2012 at 8:08 pm

The Ritz was located on the west side of North Main street between 4th and 5th street in Mansfield, and stood just to the north of the old Eagles Lodge. It is now a parking lot between the old lodge and the new one. If you look closely, you can see the old Eagles lodge building on the left side of the photo. That building is still standing, but abandoned.