City Opera House
E. Liberty Street,
Wooster,
OH
44691
E. Liberty Street,
Wooster,
OH
44691
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Joseph W. Yost of Columbus was the architect of the multipurpose City Hall and City Opera House. He was paid $1,000 for his work in 1886/7. Its capacity was capable - though not opened with - 2,700 seats in 1887. The competing Quinby Opera House struggled closing in 1890. City Opea House was home to prominent live events and political speeches including one by future President Warren Harding. But by the Depression, it was largely dark. Harry W. Conrad used the venue for boxing events successfully in the early 1930s drawing crowds of 1,250 people to strong cards. But those crowds waned leaving the City of Wooster with a largely inactive and large opera house space. It decided to make it a movie theater.
The changeover to films at City Opera House was announced in February of 1935 with the City Council announcing Schine Theatres as the lessee months later. An architect was brought in to work on making the place appear safe including a projection booth and more fire escapes reducing seat count to 820. Schine was identified as the operator at $250 leasing per month. It opened as Schine’s City Opera Houseon a four-day a week policy (Friday through Monday) on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 1935 with “To Beat the Band.”
The Opera House was too wide for films making only the center of the auditorium ideal for movie goers and - having reached over 50 years of service - not ideal for sound films. Schine announced its new Wayne Theatre and - upon opening it - terminated its lease at the City Opera House on September 4, 1938 with “Gold Mine in the Sky” supported by “Ladies in Distress” and Chapter 7 of “The Fighting Devil Dogs.” Schine’s Wayne Theatre opened four days later. Those were its last films.
The venue was leased for sporadic shows and events thereafter with the last in 1948. The total amount of leasing money was not worth the upkeep on the venue. City Hall moved out in 1949. By the 1960s, with the building long in disuse, a report on the crumbling condition of the vacant opera house was written in 1962. This led to unsafe exterior elements being removed and the opera house removed. But this didn’t shore up the building with reports again prompting its demolition and associated salvage sale.
The bell from the city hall clock was salvaged and is on display at a local museum. Freeman Construction demolished the building in late 1962 managing to have the parts of the building fall through the roof of the neighboring Jolliff & Stucker Appliance Store injuring one customer. The job was completed without further incidents in 1963.
The City Opera House is listed under Wooster in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. It was on the ground floor, had 1,000 seats, gas and electric illumination. Ticket prices ranged from 25 cents to $1. George Kettler was Mgr. There were 7 members of the house orchestra. The proscenium opening was 32 feet wide X 35 feet high, and the stage was 40 fet deep. There was one daily newspaper and 3 weeklies, and there were 3 hotels for show folk. The 1897 population of Wooster was 8,000. Interestingly, George Kettler was listed as the contact at the Wooster Daily Republican newspaper. Is it possible that he was both the Manager of the theater and the newspaper drama critic??