State Theatre
213 W. Federal Street,
Youngstown,
OH
44503
213 W. Federal Street,
Youngstown,
OH
44503
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 100 of 129 comments
Who owns the State and its property? Is it owned by the city now and are there taxes owed?
Definitely go see Miracle on Easy Street, December 15-17 at Powers/DeYor. The local talent is phenomenal. Tickets are $25.00 and worth every penny!
That is the old Liberty/Paramount Theater you are referring to.
The Warner is now known as DeYor Center For The Performing Arts, and is the home of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. This magnificant theater has added a second auditorium for smaller productions – mostly musical.
The author of this page refers to the abandoned Warner theater on Federal Street, but CT shows that as now renovated. I think he meant the State. There is a picture at the top of the page that looks ike a theater:
http://tinyurl.com/y5utj4
I understand that the State is to be demolished… i can read. I hear everything that you are saying and if you would listen to me, you would understand that im in agreement with you- im not trying to disagree. I mentioned in another post the Cafaro and The De Bartolo family. Thank you for your information. I appreciated the facts, but it cant stop a person from dreaming…
The rich folks here are already supporting the arts. Who do you think is supporting the Youngstown Symphony .. Stambaugh Auditorium .. Youngstown Playhouse etc. As for the “aveage bloke on the street who is trying to keep a roof over his family’s head his first priority is high utility bills, taxes, upkeep on his house, not the arts.
Has the arts community ever sat down with such people as the Cafaro family and presented them with a well developed plan that had meat on it’s bones?
There are a number of abandoned churches in the immediate downtown area that could be turned into performing arts venues. The Victorian Players did just this with some degree of success.
My gripe is that the arts community spent the last 20 years talking about restoring the State Theater but nothing ever came of it. The same with the Paramount, and now it seems that we might see that theater restored, but it took an outsider to do it.
By the way, it was revealed today that the city is in talks with a national hotel chain as well as a national resturant chain to locate downtown.
Lastly you said “i just feel that there is much revinue to be made in the downtown area by rejuvinating these former theaters…”. How many times do we have to tell you that the State Theater is going to be demolished by the city that owns it, and as for the Paramount, a developer is already working on bringing it back to life with the city’s blessings. That is why I suggest that you look at some of the empty churches in the downtown area.
First of all, I never stated that i expect only the tax payers to foot bills here. 2nd, I grew up in this community and was and still am involved in the arts. I performed with Easy Street for 5 or more years, took regular classes at BWR, was practically raised by the Kimple family(Y-town Playhouse), and still attend many performances downtown by our companies and their members. you took my comment wrong and Im sorry you did. being a former dancer, performer, and current teacher and choreographer i know a thing or two about the difficulty in raising funds for a good cause. i just feel that there is much revenue to be made in the downtown area by rejuvinating these former theaters. No, its not going to happen overnight with just 1 person— but their are people out there that have the incomes and power to make things happen here. Im expressing concern, not starting pointless rambling about y-town being artless. i love this city. I have performed in many cities and i can honestly say again that Powers Auditorium and Stambaugh are my 2 most favorite structures to do so in. I moved back here because i feel its a great place to live and we as a whole need to support the arts whether its music, dance, or art. Its the children in our schools that need the exposure to it all. SO YES I DO SUPPORT THE ARTS HERE — BOTH MONETARY, PHYSICALLY, AND MENTALLY.
Considering the fact that we have Powers/DeYor; Youngstown Playhouse/Ballet Western Reserve/ Victorian Players/ Oakland Center For The Arts/ Easy Street Productions/ Youngstown Symphony Orchestra and Chorus an amiture opera company and Two major Art Gallerys, as well as an artist colony in the old Ward Bakery building I dare say that there’s great support for the arts here. When are those who complain going to start reaching into their own pockets to help finance new facilities instead of expecting tax payers to shell out the money?
So when is that scheduled to be done. my thoughts are that it will sit for another 15 years empty and decayed when some one could come in do something positive for the city. Where’s all the community support for the arts?
There is no chance. The city has already announced that it will be demolished soon and turned into a parking lot for the city.
HOPEFULLY if the project with the paramount goes well maybe someone with rand venues will want to invest the money in the state too. it would be great to have three out the four theaters downtown up and open.
you would think with all of the money in this community some 1 could help this situation out. the state’s location would be perfect for ballet WR to hold performances.
The State THeater is doomed….the remediation/demolition bid packages are being prepared as I post…..it is too far gone
The City has shown interest in saving the facade….an announcement is to be made before 2007 regarding this
Negativism is what got this town in the pcikle that it is in….the fact is, Youngstown is one of the Great American Shirnking CIties….that is a planning term for a re-emerging City…..
there are better days ahead
Actually that could be said for both buildings, but when you do a walk thru both, the State building is not as far gone as the Paramount. Both are a safety hazard, but as with other downtown buildings, the city will only act when there is a major tragedy as happened in Toronto a while back when a theater collapsed there.
At this point in time 5/28/06, the plans spoken of in past posts is on hold. The State Theatre can be saved if someone with deep pockets were to come forward and was up to the challange. Unfortunately no one has offered to take a look at it.
In a recent skyline photo of downtown Youngstown, the roof of the State could clearly be seen, and it looks like a jungle almost completely covered with weeds.
The local deep pocketed folks here invested a huge sum to build the DeYor Performing Arts Center at Powers Auditorium, so there would be no use in asking them.
As I said before, the main floor of the auditorium was leveled so that tables could be placed there when it was turned into a nite club, so if it were to be brought back as a theater, there would need to be a new floor built, and throughout the auditorium all new seats would have to be installed, but as I see it, the State is in far better shape than the Paramount.
Thanks.
Patsy: Two photos of Powers exterior are now up at
http://farrell-report.tripod.com
Let me know when you have seen them as I have limited space on this site, and am trying to limit the number of pictures I put up there.
Use the Contact The Farrell Report to send E-mail please.
Thanks
Joyce
Perhaps I was wrong in thinking that theatre name was connected to Youngstown as CT only lists 5 Youngstown theatres and the Southern is not mentioned.
The only one I can think of is the old South Side Drive In.
Is there or was there a theatre called the Southern in Youngstown? It seems that I came upon that name in my vast theatre research.
I just took a deep breath as I finished reading the words in your above post! Such a darn shame! So the owner had big plans? Guess or hope he was run out of town! What plans could be bigger than saving a theatre that was in extremely good condtion and included magnificant art work and antiques? Earlier I visited the Palace link and read of its demise and parking lot plans!
Unfortunately it is now a parking lot. It was the most beautiful theater in Youngstown, and a goodly number of stars, including Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Ol'Blue Eyes, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Patty Page performed there.
It dates back to about 1928, and right up to the end, it had both movies and stage shows, and Broadway plays featuring major stars.
When it closed there was an auction that brought people in from all over the country including a number of art gallerys that bought it’s magnificant art collection and antiques.
Attempts were made to try to save it, but the owner had big plans for the land which never were built. Sad, because the building was in extremely good condition, having been well cared for by the management
wolfgirl500: I just typed in ‘ladynews500’ on the Webshot page and found those Palace Theatre photos! WOW! Is it still standing?
I tried bringing up the ladynews500 site and couldn’t find the theater photos. Please advise. The Farrell Report site was most interesting and I thank you.
Yes … since 1950.
Unfortunately though, I’ve had little luck finding good material on the Warner family.
I tried to compile historic material on Youngstown, but with work on my web site taking up most of my time, I’ve had little time to visit the Arms Museum Library or the Public Library.
I do have a secondary web site that has some theater photos you might be interested in viewing:
http://community.webshots.com/ladynews500
My main website is:
http://farrell-report.tripod.com
but aside from a single photo of the Paramount Theater building, it is devoted to news.