State Theatre

The 1,800-seat Schine’s State Theatre was opened October 12, 1928. It is equipped with a Page 3 manual 8 ranks theatre pipe organ. In September 1930 it was taken over by Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp. They were evicted from the theatre in 1933 for non-payment of rent and it was then operated by Seltz Theatre Company. In the 1960’s the Page organ was sold to an organ enthusiast in Detroit. Later due to his ill health he gave back the organ to the State Theatre.

The Sandusky State Theatre, Inc., is a non-profit 501 c-3 Organization, dedicated to the preservation of the State Theatre as an historic landmark and community cornerstone that serves the people of the greater Sandusky region by presenting programs of artistic, education and social merit.

A strong windstorm on June 9, 2020 ripped the roof off the stage house and also severely damaged the roof over the front orchestra seating, resulting in damage to that section of the auditorium when the ceiling collapsed and also to the console of the organ.

Renovations.restorations are underway and are planned to be completed in 2024.

Recent comments (view all 26 comments)

madorganplayer on June 11, 2020 at 6:44 am

Ive just seen on Facebook today that the whole roof has blown off and the metalwork collapsed into the auditorium.

madorganplayer on June 11, 2020 at 6:57 am

Photo added from FB

terrywade on June 11, 2020 at 3:54 pm

I wonder if a tornado hit the theatre June 9 2020 or were they showing the classic 35mm film Earthquake in Sensurround?

markp on June 12, 2020 at 10:14 am

Many people have commented how the walls around the stage house seem to be very thin in comparison to the side wall of the auditorium. Of course it could just be the way the photos were taken, but it seems those stagehouse walls, especially the outside one seem very thin.

Joe Vogel on June 13, 2020 at 3:41 am

This brief video from Weather.com includes a shot of part of the State Theatre’s stage house collapsing. I don’t know how long it will be available, as I’m not familiar with the site’s policy.

markp on June 13, 2020 at 7:55 am

I have found they usually leave the videos up. what an incredible site.

walterk on June 13, 2020 at 8:00 pm

About a minute and a half of drone footage of the damage is viewable here.

markp on June 21, 2020 at 9:13 pm

I read on one of the many facebook groups that the board of directors for this theatre has approved a plan to rebuild the stagehouse and auditorium damage that occured.

rivest266 on April 10, 2021 at 5:55 pm

The opening was delayed to October 12th, 1928. Grand opening ad posted.

Found on Newspaperarchive.com

obie on October 8, 2023 at 7:17 pm

Rebuild and restoration should be complete in 2024.