State Theatre
107 Columbus Avenue,
Sandusky,
OH
44870
107 Columbus Avenue,
Sandusky,
OH
44870
5 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 26 comments
Rebuild and restoration should be complete in 2024.
The opening was delayed to October 12th, 1928. Grand opening ad posted.
Found on Newspaperarchive.com
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.
About a minute and a half of drone footage of the damage is viewable here.
I have found they usually leave the videos up. what an incredible site.
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.
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.
I wonder if a tornado hit the theatre June 9 2020 or were they showing the classic 35mm film Earthquake in Sensurround?
Photo added from FB
Ive just seen on Facebook today that the whole roof has blown off and the metalwork collapsed into the auditorium.
I saw on facebook, maybe the group cinema tour, that the stage house area suffered major damage from severe storms today. Looked like the roof and back wall blew out.
There are a couple of quick exterior shots of this theater on Hotel Impossible, season 8, episode 13.
A February 24, 1928, Sandusky Star Journal article about the start of construction on the new theater at Water Street and Columbus Avenue for the Seltz Theatre Company said that it had been designed by Lima, Ohio, architect Peter M. Hulsken, who had recently designed a theater for the Schine circuit in Lima. During the planning stage for the project, Schine had entered into an agreement with Seltz to operate the new house.
Schine’s State Theatre opened on October 2, 1928, but in September, 1930, the State and a number of other Schine houses in Ohio were taken over by Warner Brothers. In 1933 the Seltz Theatre Company evicted Warner Brothers from the State for failure to pay the monthly rent. A long lawsuit followed, and from this period until at least as late as 1950, the State was independently operated by the Seltz company itself.
The Sandusky State theater had a Page 3/8 organ installed in 1928. This organ’s main cable was accidentally cut during remodeling work. It was unplayable as of 2005. However, the pipes are being attended to, and the cable is being readied for reconnection. The console is going for restoration to a qualified shop in Indiana. It is expected that the Page will be back in full use sometime later this year.
My great aunts were in vaudeville and played in Sandusky at the State Theatre. I believe it was the Schine’s State Theatre. This was in April, 1929.
View link
Also a Sandusky Theatre advertised in 1911 and onwards, but no other corroborating information seems to be available.
Hello Lost….
Ahhh, that is MUCH better. Always like to see something on the marquee. So that means they are open again. That is a good thing. I do hope that the place is in the right hands this time around. A couple years ago they had some financial botching and they closed for a while.
The only thing worse than a blank marquee is one that says “Closed”, “Out of Business”, and the infamous “Temporarily Closed” (a nod to the reverse side of the Styx Paradise Theatre album).
Geo
Hello Lost,
Is that a recent picture?
Hasn’t this theatre reopened yet????
I know they been having problems getting a decent person to run this place…but if it hasn’t reopened yet, there is something serious going on over there. What more is that I would be concerned about this theatre’s future.
JG
It is a beautiful theatre and I do hope that it does reopen.
Hello
CHUCK1231—I am sorry, I don’t know the particulars on why it closed. When I found out it was closed last fall, I looked into it’s possible sale. So I contacted the Erie County Chamber of Commerce and they informed me that the State Theatre is not for sale and will reopen. As for function, I believe it was a combo theatre that catered both to live acts and movies. I am assuming that it will return to that function. The Chamber didn’t give me a time frame of when it will re-open. So I just hope the theatre is in good hands. It is a nice looking building.
JG
Hello
No, this theatre is not for sale. I checked into that.
PATSY—As an answer to your question, the State Theatre will re-open. I found this information out directly from the Erie County Chamber of Commerce.
JG
What’s the status of this theatre now?
It closed.
Does anyone know if this theater is for sale? I thought I read somewhere a few months back that it was closing.
Thanks!
Recent color photos of this theatre can be found on the site: “America’s Stunning Theatres” by photographer and stagehand Noah Kern at: http://www.pbase.com/affablebeef/theatres Comments and information may be left there without registration; such can be public view or only to Mr. Kern. Scroll down the page to find the name, and then click on the sample image above it to be taken to the page of photos of it.