1) The Montgomery Ward built at the old site was part of a larger shopping center called “Akron Square.” It barely outlived the Starlite; it was empty by the late 80s and demolished in the early 90s. There was an indoor theater there which is on this site (Akron Square Cinema 6).
2) The address of Starlight Drive came later for its second location; the roads in front of the theater were heavily altered when 224 was turned into an expressway. It probably had an Emmitt Road or Waterloo Rd/US-224 address throughout the 60s and into the 70s.
The address is missing, and the map is in the wrong spot. The theater was on Trump Ave SE, on the southeast corner at Old Lincoln Hwy (just north of where the bypass abruptly ends). You can clearly see the outline of the rows in an aerial map. The back portion has been built over, but most of its original area remains untouched.
As of right now, it’s listed as for-lease on NAI’s website; they’re asking $1500 a month for the theater and the space to the right of it (505 W Exchange). However, I’m a little worried that it’s been too heavily modified to ever be a theater again. The front doors are open in Google street-view, as well as a garage door in the back, and it appears the whole thing is a flat concrete floor. (Looking in the front, you can see the light coming in from the back door.) It makes me think concrete was poured on top of the old sloped floor.
A couple of facts about this:
1) The Montgomery Ward built at the old site was part of a larger shopping center called “Akron Square.” It barely outlived the Starlite; it was empty by the late 80s and demolished in the early 90s. There was an indoor theater there which is on this site (Akron Square Cinema 6).
2) The address of Starlight Drive came later for its second location; the roads in front of the theater were heavily altered when 224 was turned into an expressway. It probably had an Emmitt Road or Waterloo Rd/US-224 address throughout the 60s and into the 70s.
The address is missing, and the map is in the wrong spot. The theater was on Trump Ave SE, on the southeast corner at Old Lincoln Hwy (just north of where the bypass abruptly ends). You can clearly see the outline of the rows in an aerial map. The back portion has been built over, but most of its original area remains untouched.
As of right now, it’s listed as for-lease on NAI’s website; they’re asking $1500 a month for the theater and the space to the right of it (505 W Exchange). However, I’m a little worried that it’s been too heavily modified to ever be a theater again. The front doors are open in Google street-view, as well as a garage door in the back, and it appears the whole thing is a flat concrete floor. (Looking in the front, you can see the light coming in from the back door.) It makes me think concrete was poured on top of the old sloped floor.