Marlow Theater
206 S. Third Street,
Ironton,
OH
45638
206 S. Third Street,
Ironton,
OH
45638
3 people
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Showing 7 comments
bilpatrick: Street View has been updated to the correct location since I posted my comment of June 7, 2011. Unfortunately, I can’t edit the comment to remove that part, and I don’t want to remove the whole comment because other information in it is still pertinent.
Also unfortunate, the link I posted in the comment no longer fetches the same page it did two years ago, and I can’t find another copy of the photo it featured. The perils of the ever-changing Internet.
Cinema Treasures also has a page for the Ro-Na Theatre, in case you’d like to comment there. It has only one comment from anyone who has actually seen the theater, and could use more.
The building in the photo above is in fact the Marlow Theater. See Julia Marlowe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Marlowe . It is now Tim’s News and Novelties owned by Tim Gearhart. The building has been partitioned into smaller storefront space, but I assure you, the theater is still inside and is upstairs. The floor has been replaced with drop ceiling, but the balcony and stage remain. The Ro-Na is another building entirely and is currently being restored. http://ro-na.net/
A 1919 issue of The American Architect said that Columbus architect F. L. Packard was designing a theater and store building for H. A. Marting, to be built at Ironton, Ohio. The project was to cost $100.000. Putting this together with the other information I cited in my earlier comment, I’d say this item surely referred to the Marlow Theatre project.
From the Save The Ro-Na Facebook page: “The Ro-Na Theater in Ironton, Ohio has been around since 1957. It’s located at 314 South 3rd Street.”
The theater in the photo and in the current Street View is the Ro-Na, not the Marlow. The address of 206 S. Third Street belongs to the Marlow, though. The Marlow’s entrance was on Third just a few doors south of Park Avenue, but the Ro-Na is on 3rd between Vernon and Washington, the next block south.
The Marlow Theatre is adjacent to an office and commercial block called the Marlow Building, which is at the southwest corner of Park Avenue and S. 3rd Street. It once housed a department store on its first two floors and offices above. The theater is fairly large, and its original seating capacity might have been greater than that of the Ro-Na, but it had a rather narrow entrance. The building does not appear to have a stage house, but it must have had a stage of some sort, as I’ve found numerous references to boxing matches being held there during the 1920s.
The Marlow Building and Theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 6, 2008. NRHP classifies the theater’s architectural style as Classical Revival, but does not name an architect or builder. A small photo about halfway down this web page shows the Marlow Theatre at left. The taller building to the right, which has a marquee, was not a theater but a hotel, and has recently been renovated as an apartment building.
A timeline of events in Ironton says that the Marlow Theatre opened in 1920. The May 6, 1919, issue of The Brick and Clay Record has a line saying: “H.A. Marting is taking bids for a large theater and office building at Ironton, Ohio.” Other sources indicate that Marting was one of the backers of the Marlow Theatre project, so the item undoubtedly refers to this theater. The Marlow appears to have closed in 1952, which was three years after the Ro-Na Theatre opened.
There’s a little confusion here as the Rona appears to be at the same address:
http://tinyurl.com/22muzj3
Here is a 1984 photo of the Rona:
http://tinyurl.com/2g3q5vd
The name of the theater in the photo is the Rona (pronounced Row-Nay)
It was opened around 1957 after the closure of the Marlow, it is about a block down from the marlow.
The Marlow still stands and there is talk of renovations, some folks fro the state of Ohio have come to look at it , and I guess the owner of the building said he would sell it.
I will have some pics soon.