Temple Theatre

417 South Myrtle Avenue,
Willard, OH 44890

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toplapi
toplapi on January 26, 2011 at 9:12 am

Thanks for posting some information on The Temple Theatre. I included it in a blog about how, as a reporter for The Willard Times, I was able to go inside the closed theater as the fire department used it for exercises.
It’s at http://www.dennisseeds.com/Blog?p=251

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on October 24, 2010 at 5:07 am

Volume 13 of the trade journal Ohio Architect and Builder has this item:

“SANDUSKY— R. H. Shively is about ready for bids for a masonic temple and theater for the Ohio Temple Co., at Chicago Junction, O. Four-stories, brick, stone trimmings, opera chairs, curtains, plaster ornaments, combination fixtures and steam heat. Cost, $40,000.“
R.H. Shively, whose office was in Sandusky, was the architect of the theater.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 4, 2009 at 7:04 pm

That’s good. I did enough arguing with other people today. Point taken.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 4, 2009 at 6:30 pm

So if I understand you correctly, what you are saying is that we shouldn’t post any information about a theater’s use for vaudeville or live theater, pre-film exhibition. Is that correct?

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 4, 2009 at 6:08 pm

Including this one.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 4, 2009 at 6:02 pm

According to this site, the town changed its name in 1917. The existing Chicago Opera House saw its patronage diminish when the Temple opened in 1912.
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~hl/v.html

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 4, 2009 at 5:58 pm

Don’t let me keep you up.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 4, 2009 at 5:56 pm

I agree.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 4, 2009 at 5:53 pm

It is, as a matter of fact. If you are looking for archives relating to the theater in the teens, you need to use Chicago Junction as the town, instead of Willard. Otherwise your search will be fruitless.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 4, 2009 at 5:46 pm

Two items from the Sandusky Star Journal in February 1921, noting the change of town name and some improvements at the Temple:

At the Chamber of Commerce meeting Friday night it was decided that the old signboards bearing the name “Chicago Junction” at crossroads and other places along the byways will be torn down and new ones put up bearing the name Willard. It is believed that many tourists have been misdirected by the old signs.

Willard’s Temple Theater now compares favorably with theaters in other cities. Large glass frames have been placed on the outside of the building and the walls of the lobby, giving it a modern appearance.