Foster Art Theatre
2504 Glenwood Avenue,
Youngstown,
OH
44511
2504 Glenwood Avenue,
Youngstown,
OH
44511
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 34 comments
It’s been bought by a community development group and is being converted into housing. https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/new-apartments-retail-space-coming-to-youngstown/
This theater is no longer open at all.
What do they plan to do with the Foster? A theater showing mainstream films would never be profitable because–correctly or not–the Glenwood Avenue area has a rather dicey reputation. And the theater isn’t equipped for live performances either (the nearby Youngstown Playhouse has enough trouble attracting patrons, mostly because of its location). Personally, I think they should have just left it alone. While porn may no longer be chic, at least it was still operating as a “theater.” From the sound of it, the new owners have no intention of making the site functional. A restored facade would be nice, but if the theater itself remains an empty, ghostly shell inside, what’s the point? The money could be spent on more useful projects that might actually improve the lives of low income Youngstowners.
Go Fund Me for the facade & marquee.
https://www.mahoningmatters.com/local-news/want-to-help-fund-a-facelift-for-the-foster-theatre-heres-how-you-can-chip-in-3937211?fbclid=IwAR2soq2FnZc9RanXdpPEZIGn2XHa_S5tqgeCy6E0O9npZH6xP0tlltQLPJA
I’m so excited about the revitalization! I’ve been speaking with the media about the history of that theater, as well as Youngstown’s theater heyday of days long past. The fundraising campaign will soon be announced.
Current article about the Foster Theatre.
https://www.mahoningmatters.com/local-news/fostering-a-new-future-iconic-youngstown-theater-gets-new-life-3894587?fbclid=IwAR3ZxKWwjSVxMcL1NTSLjkdoxW1hIqonRofNG0lodGJdCEe93B3WCvYeskk
I remember seeing Mary Poppins there. But IMDB says that it came out in 1964. I couldn’t have been 4 years old with such vivid recollections. Does anyone remember when that played at the Foster?
Hello,
I’m writing a book on the history of Youngstown, and I’m looking for anyone willing to talk with me about the Foster Theater of yesteryear. You can reach me at
Hello all,
I am doing a large-scale research project on adult theatres and would be very interested to hear from anything who either worked at or attended this theatre during its time showing adult films. If you would like to help me out, you can email me at .
Thanks!
The Carmel Corn was on the left side of the building and Murberger and Lambert’s flower shop on the right. The Carmel Corn sold the popcorn until is closed and then it was sold in the theater. Joe Shagrin’s office was up over the Carmel Corn shop. The women’s and men’s rooms were over the marquee.
The balcony was a good place to sit with a girl. Especially as I had access to the key and could lock the door.
lanasings2, I worked for your father, Joe Shagrin. He hired me to change the marquee. I got paid one dollar each time the films changed. This was usually on Saturday night with a new film on Sunday and Wednesday night. Sometimes I would get called to be the ticket taker and would get paid a dollar to take tickets. Best part was that I got to see all the movies for free. This was in 1952-53.
I am amazed the Foster is still open. In 1961 my uncle, who was a journalist for the Warren Tribune, thought it was time I saw a “serious” move" (I was a jr i HS), so he took me to see Ingmar Bergman’s “Through a Glass Darkly”. He was right. That was the first movie that had me thinking about what it meant for weeks afterwards.
Indeed it was Fred Childress, a very good friend, and the Shagrin name goes way back in Youngstown theater history, running a number of local theaters over the years. One I believe was associated with the Warner Brothers.
My Dad, Joe Shagrin, was the ONLY owner of the Foster until he sold it in the 70’s and it then became a Porn Theatre. I wish I had pictures of the inside, but I do not! If you are a movie critic and are reading this my Dad was very good friends with I believe his name was Fred Childress, the movie critic in that era.
Given the quality of films that ran in the Foster’s glory days, your father would not approve of what it is today.
The area around the Foster today is a war zone … murders, drugs and the like.
Would you happen to have any photos of the Foster’s interior?
My Dad owned the Foster Theatre and opened it the year before I was born. I sold popcorn and candy there as a child…….a long time ago! I am glad to see it still standing. I remember the Parker’s Frozen Custard. It was the best!
The only film I saw here was Elvira Madagan. Mostly I hit the downtown theaters.
You can see simulcast broadcasts of live opera at that hideous purple Southern Park Mall theater, Twinkletoes. There seems to be a new one every other weekend.
Back in the day the Foster use to bring in film versions of Grand Opera, and my Mother made a point of going there whenever they were shown, but saddly those days are long gone and if the truth were told, a person takes their life in their hands if they go there today.
Mike- Unlike Youngstown, Cleveland used to be Loews-heavy (Loews East, Loews Richmond, Loews Yorktown, Loews Village, Loews Berea, etc.) But the last remaining Loews house (their multiplex at Richmond Mall) was sold to exhibitor powerhouse Regal a few years back.
That Richmond ‘plex currently has 20 screens. Ha!! I remember when Loews first opened it back in the late '60s with—count 'em and weep—one gigantic screen. Even after it was (sadly) twinned, the screens were still immense by today’s standards.
thanks milanp,noticed an ad in the Younstown paper for a LOEWS,but it never had a city.
Jack- It would definitely be a blast to get together with fellow survivors who remember the glorious theaters of Youngstown (and Pittsburgh’s) past.
I trust that you’ve since moved out of the northeastern Ohio gulag?
Although I’ve devoted my life to movies as an art form (I make my living as a critic, and also teach a film history class at YSU), I sometimes wonder what it is that I love more: those magnificent celluloid cathedrals of my youth/adolescence, or the actual films that were projected on their noble screens.
I sometimes think it’s a toss-up at this point.
MilanP,
At least some of us are still around to remember and comment.
I’ve read, with interest, some of your other posts for Y'town and Pittsburgh. Like yourself, I tried, any way I could, to get to both cities, and others, Part of it was the theatres and part was seeing the movies in their proper venue. One was as important as the other to me. People like you, Bob Vargo (Peter Wellman’s right hand for many years) and Wolfgirl should get together sometime to talk about the “good ol' days” in Eastern Ohio and Western PA. There seems like there were many people of like mind in that area.
BTW, FYU- Bill Petrich was alsoa accounting professor at YU.
Thanks, Jack. Nat'l Amusements was the name that kept popping in my head—but I kept doubting myself because it sounded to much like Sumner Redstone’s outfit.
Bill Petrich (or “Petrych,” I’m not certain) was their major domo in the Y'town district. And yes, Cinemette is the Pitts-based chain that eventually bought the Liberty Plaza and the Uptown (the Liberty played UA product; the Uptown was a Universal baby). The original Uptown owner/operator (Steve Foster a Wellman disciple, who also ran the Schenley on Mahoning Avenue, AND the Foster at one time), sold to Cinemette in spring ‘75, eventually buying the theater back in fall '83 after they’d run it—and the Uptown Theater’s good name—into the ground.
Yes, the Foster was a grand, glorious thing during its art film heyday. And you’re right, alas, about it’s current porn theater identity superseding its illustrious arthouse past. Whenever I mention the halcyon days of the Foster (and Bergman, Fellini, et al), people think I’m crazy.
A couple comments:
The domiant chain, prior to Associated Theatres/Cinemette, was Cleveland-based National Amusements. National,under Mr. Petrich (sp) operated the Palace and State downtown and opened some of the first large mall theatres in the suburbs. Associated (Pittsburgh) operated the Liberty Plaza and Uptown. John Harper and associates bought the Associated chain in the mid 70’s usiing the Cinemette name. Following was a spree of theatre purchasing and building.
The Foster was the main venue for true “art” films for many years. I, like many of you, saw my first Felini and Bergman films there. Occasionally the Foster would even present an opera or ballet-based film Throughout the 50’s and 60’s they maintained a postcard mailing list to “fine arts film fans.” This was the type of theatre that one usually expected to fine in NYC and the like. The real prototype of the art format house.
It’s a shame that it will probably be remembered as a porn theatre.