Paulding Theatre
114 W. Perry Street,
Paulding,
OH
45879
114 W. Perry Street,
Paulding,
OH
45879
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The Paulding Theatre was located in the main business section of town. It was a replacement to the Grand Theatre which was destroyed by fire on Labor Day 1946. The Paulding Theatre was opened by Community Circuit Theaters chain on March 10 1949 with John Wayne in “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”. It was closed in the 1990’s.
Contributed by
Chuck
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In Boxoffice Magazine, January 31, 1953, there was a photo of the Paulding Theatre along with an article mentioning its involvement in a tax protest.
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In the mid-1970s, when I was about 15 or 16, I worked at the Paulding Theater. I worked concessions, and eventually operated the projectors. I worked for a Mr Tope. He was a bit of an entrepreneur. On most nights, there were some people who would come to the exit door, just to buy bags of popcorn. Remember this was before everyone had microwave popcorn at home. I loved the place. Now, it just looks sad.
On Labor Day 1946, the city of Paulding lost the Grand to a fire and went theaterless until March 10, 1949 when it celebrated the grand opening of the Paulding Theatre. Complete with parade and a benefit screening of “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.”
Not a succesful looking theatre but a very interesting looking pic. Great marquee too. Love the light and shadows in the pic.
Paulding marquee sign removed to be restored.
02/07/17 article below.
http://www.progressnewspaper.org/Content/News/Homepage-Rotating-Articles/Article/New-life-for-an-old-sign/198/1210/194015
According to the newspaper article, this closed sometime in the ‘90s.
The Paulding Theatre was originally built for Jack O'Connell’s Community Theatres circuit of Toledo, Ohio, according to the February 26, 1949 issue of Boxoffice.
The side walls of the Grand Theatre, which the Paulding replaced, survived the 1946 fire and were incorporated into the 1949 structure, which was essentially a steel framed building built inside the old walls dating to 1893. Part of the front wall also survived, but the back wall was removed so the building could be extended with a new concrete block addition, providing increased seating capacity.
Sadly, demolition of the Paulding Theatre building began less than one month short of the 75th anniversary of its opening, on February 21, 2024. The John Paulding Historical Society provided a last look at what was left of the theater interior in a video posted to their Facebook page on February 20. Watch it here.