Doan Theatre
10402 St. Clair Avenue,
Cleveland,
OH
44108
10402 St. Clair Avenue,
Cleveland,
OH
44108
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Mike Rivest, do you have an online source for the Plain Dealer or do you have access to microfilm?
Listings in the Plain Dealer 1915-1952
American Cinema’s Transitional Era: Audiences, Institutions, Practices, by Charlie Keil and Shelly Stamp, cites a 1913 advertisement for a Doan Theatre in Cleveland. A Doan Theatre was also mentioned in the July 1, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World, but no location was mentioned, and it might not have been this house.
Showtime in Cleveland: The Rise of a Regional Theater Center, by John Vacha, mentions the Doan Theatre in a paragraph about houses opened in the 1920s, saying that “…the Doan ushered moviegoers into a lobby rotunda modeled after an Aztec temple….” which certainly doesn’t sound like something that would have been built prior to the 1920s. The earlier Doan Theatre might have been remodeled, or replaced altogether.
As for the Doan ever having been a Loew’s house, a Loew’s Doan Theatre in Cleveland is mentioned on page 27 of a 1986 issue of Theatre Organ: Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society, Volume 28. It quotes a source dated July, 1926. So, while this house was certainly never Loew’s Euclid, it must have been Loew’s Doan.
I am convinced that this theater was never known as Loew’s Euclid, based on this ad for Loew’s Theaters that appears on Mike Rivest’s Picasa photosite. The ad is from 1921 and shows the list of theaters operated by Loew’s since 1917.
If you zoom in, you can see that the Loew’s Euclid theater was at 9th and Euclid, which means that it is most likely, if not certainly the Euclid Theater built by Joseph Laronge; if the information for that theater is correct indicating that it opened in 1914, then Loew’s assumed control of it by 1921 at the latest, which would make highly unlikely that Loew’s ever had anything to do with this theater.
I was the Assistant Manager of this theater way back in the Late 40’s. One unusual feature was a big pond in the lobby stocked with beautiful large Gold Fish. Adult admission was 50 cents, Junior was 25 cents, children 10 cents. Those were the days. hehrman28
My mother worked at the Doan Theater in Cleveland in the late 1940s. She sold tickets. She has been deceased since 1983 and I just found out about this today. Anyone else out there whose parents/grandparents worked at Doan’s? Please get in touch by e-mail at .
I don’t know how I missed that – I guess from the names Euclid and Doan I just assumed…well…no excuse…careless reading at 2am.
Ah, I would agree DB, except that the Doan/Loew’s Euclid was not on Euclid, but on St. Clair near 105th, so it could not have been across the street from the Park. (see my comment above, when I noted that neither of this theater’s names really makes locational sense).
Otherwise, I think your conjecture about what Loew’s probably did in 1921 makes good sense, especially – as you probably know, the area round 105th and Euclid wasa sort of second downtown for a couple of decades, with two very grand palaces and some smaller houses along with any fine restaurant and stores. If you go there, it is almost hard to believe what it once was, how rundown it became. most of the area is occupied by hospitals and offices.
It’s possible that Loew’s operated the Euclid from 1919 until they built the Park in 1921 across the street and a little bit west. As this theatre was less than half the size of the Loew’s Park it probably became a move-over house and Loew’s eventually lost interest. The subsequent operator probably renamed it. It would be interesting to see if there are any advertisements showing Loew’s operating the Euclid and Park simultaneously.
Doan’s Creek is what runs along MLK (formerly Liberty Blvd), through the cultural gardens to Wade Park Lagoon. Doan’s Corners had died out as a name for Euclid-105, but Doan still had resonance, and was on the Glenville side of Liberty.
One of the oddest things about this theater is that neither of its names seems to make sense, at least not from from looking back on where it was located over fifty years later. One wonders why Loew’s named the theater Euclid when it was on St. Clair. There is a Doan Avenue in Cleveland, but it does not cross St. Clair, though it does cross Euclid Avenue near the Windemere Rapid Transit station. The area around 105th and Euclid was known as Doan’s Corners, but that area is a considerable distance from 105th and St. Clair which is where this theater was approximately located.
Looks like this theatre has been demolished. The google map for this address shows a parking lot for a shopping center.