Valentine Theatre
410 Adams Street,
Toledo,
OH
43604
410 Adams Street,
Toledo,
OH
43604
6 people
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The website shows classic films being screened. Function should also include: Movies, classic.
Love the linen postcard picture!
A couple of before and after photos on their website. It looks like a lot of the lobby décor is original, and the auditorium looks mostly new, but from the before photo, not much was left restoring anyway- the previous renovations were fairly bland. It looks nice now.
Ah, I didn’t see the “a” and imagined that it said “the.” Reading too fast again.
I was only commenting on the similar names. The Valentine in the comic strip is an imaginary neighborhood theater. The name just struck me, that’s all. And the relevance of the necessity for small theaters t go digital or go dark.
As the Valentine Theatre is primarily a live performance venue, and pretty solidly booked, I don’t see how the lack of a digital projector could be a problem for them. It certainly isn’t going to close.
the syndicated comic strip “Crankshaft”, which is set in Toledo, is currently running a story on a Valentine Theater. This small theater is facing closure if it can’t convert to digital projection.
Roger, the Valentine’s original entrance was on St. Clair Street, where it remained until the renovations of the 1990s. When the theater was renovated an addition was built on the Adams Street side of the building with a new entrance in it. The unrelated building the Victory/Metro Theatre was in was probably demolished ages ago.
In 1913 the Valentine is listed at 409 Saint Clair St. while the Victory Theatre is listed at 414 Adams St. A couple years 414 Adams is listed as the Metro Theatre with 197 seats. What gives? Was there a small storefront theatre in the building? Was there a small building next door?
In addition to the article Tinseltoes linked to, that issue of Boxoffice features a photo of the foyer and main stairways of the remodeled Valentine used as the cover plate of the magazine’s The Modern Theatre section.
The Valentine is listed under Toledo in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. It was run by the Valentine Company, Lee Boda, Mgr. Its seating capacity is listed as 1,904. It had electric illumination and was on the ground floor. The proscenium arch was 39 feet high and 37 feet wide, and the stage was 62 feet deep. There were 10 members of the house orchestra. There was also a People’s Theatre, with 2,080 seats, listed for Toledo. The 1897 population of Toledo was 125,000.
The original entrance of the Valentine Theatre on St. Clair Street still exists, though it now has only an awning instead of the marquee seen in the 1932 photo Chuck linked to earlier.
The Valentine was showing movies as early as 1908, when it was mentioned in an item in the July 25 issue of The Moving Picture World.
I just learned of this theatre through a former Toledo resident. You can hear a fascinating balcony story by clicking on this youtube link.
View link
What a remake!
Great 1932 photo Chuck1231.
Their webpage is:
http://www.valentinetheatre.com
The theatre was remodeled in 1999. They show some before & after photos. The 1942 renovation looked like a slightly squared off version of the Radio City Music Hall design – the radiating sunburst pattern with some art-moderne swirly decorations with an oriental motif on the sides. Not in very good shape. It has a new design now, from the small photo looks fairly modern, but with vibrant red and white colors, a fantastic fancy chandelier in the auditorium ceiling and new old-style side boxes. The lobby has some asian-themed paintings covered over in the renovation but the marble and gilt grand staircase has been nicely restored.
The Valentine was converted to a 70mm Cinerama theater in 1964 shortly after the 3-strip Cinerama installation was removed from the Paramount a block away. In fact two of the three lamp housings were reused at the Valentine for 70mm projection. The Cinerama installation lasted barely over two years when all 70mm Cinerama films were shown at the Showcase Cinema that had been recently built. The first Cinerama film shown there was The Battle of the Buldge in early 1966. The Cinerama equipment at the Valentine was mothballed until April of 1973 when in was briefly brought out of retirement and used for a couple of years until it’s closure in 1976. The theater now host live presentations.
Rapp & Rapp did indeed conduct the 1942 renovation. Keep in mind that this was a time of war. They had to ask the Federal Government for permission to move forward. Permission was granted due to the fact that a large amount of steel was removed and replaced with a heavy wooden structure of some kind.
Rapp & Rapp were behind the 1942 remodeling. Box Office Magazine awarded them most outstanding new theater project for 1942.
Old postcard:
View link
There were spaces for 3-strip films, but they were never used. By the time they showed their 1st CINERAMA movie (Mad Mad World) a new booth was installed for single projection 70mm. They did have a CINERAMA screen, but it was removed in the 1999 restoration.
In the early 70’s, the theatre re-opened (it had closed in the late 60’s) to show classics like “Fiddler On The Roof” and other 70mm films. They still had the CINERAMA screen then.
Since the restoration in 1999, the theatre is mostly used for live shows, but there is a screen, albeit a small one, for movies – if they should want to show any.