Olympia Theatre

I had an aunt,uncle etc. who lived farther up, off 55th, and my mother wound up buying a Black w/Red Interior 62 Dodge Dart convertible from Grabski not too far from the Olympia….I can remember seeing “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and hated it as a youngster, as a pre-teen, Marshall Thompson in “A Yank In Vietnam”, and as a teenager, Sean Connery in “The Hill”, it was almost a ‘ghost town’ atmosphere by that time….but, I never felt uncomfortable, in risk, and always seemed safe waiting for my ride home….My maternal family had a lot of roots in that neighborhood, going back to the woolen mills days before the Depression….My cousins both attended South High, and I was always impressed by the Catholic High School,Our Lady of Lourdes….“Kid Leo”(formerly of WMMS, now of Sirius radio) is an alumnus..I went to see bands perform in that auditorium…My father got re-married at the Polish National Catholic Church across the street from South High and that bakery ….oh, and a maternal great uncle was the custodian of the Union of Poles social hall on Broadway…cheers y'all

The Olympia Theatre was in operation prior to January 19, 1916, on which date a telegram from its operator, W. H. Miller, was entered into the records of a hearing being held by the Federal Motion Picture Commission. It was one of many telegrams sent by Cleveland theater operators to express opposition to a proposed Federal censorship law.

I also recall that the Olympia Theater, several months after it closed to mainstream movies, operated briefly in mid-1981 as a porn house. However, there was vocal community opposition in the Broadway area, where people from the Broadway/East 55th neighborhood was picketing the theater, and the porn movies lasted for only a few months as a result. Also, shortly before the Olympia closed for good, someone crashed a pickup truck into the lobby…obviously someone unhappy with the porn that the Olympia was showing at the time. The Olympia closed for good after that.

Seems to me there was a very old school building right on Dolloff, maybe at Barkwell. Dolloff is just a half block away from the Olympia.

When I ran the Olympia, from ‘74-'78, there was a TV repair shop next door. As I recall, during our renovation of the lobby, we uncovered a door into that store-front, which I believe to have once been “Olympia Candies”. The candy store was still making candy during those years a block or so down and across Broadway. See if that jibes with your mom’s recollections. Have you no memories of those years? Thanks

may have info on Olympia.

Who’s writing about my theater! I’d like to know more! I know it was a pretty fancy organ. We found remnants, and the open bass pipes were still mounted on the back wall. Talk to me!

Thanks for the glowing compliment, “frodosbudy”! Maybe you remember me. My name is Ray and I ran the Olympia from ‘74 to '78! Two friends and I went in there with less than $4000 and cleaned and fixed that place up (It had been boarded up a couple years) and reopened in May '74 with “Jesus Christ Superstar”. I personally pulled the curtains open, and I’ll never forget the feeling that came over me with the cheering of those neighborhood kids when that light hit the screen after having been dark so long!
The Olympia opened in l911 as a Vaudeville/movie house. Older neighbors recalled live orchestras on the weekends and the organ playing during the week. The stage was five stories high-enough to accommodate the fire curtain which rose straight up behind the tall arched proscenium. We had 850 seats on the main floor, some having been removed, and only used a few of the 225 on the balcony for “private parties”, (if you know what I mean). There was a huge (6’ dia.) squirrel cage fan backstage that put the nicest breeze out over the audience. Five dressing rooms, too. We ran it as a $1:00 theater, open only on weekends as second-sub-run. We’d open all week for some special features, like “Jaws”. I would play Ravel’s “Bolero” leading up to the show-the projectionist knew exactly when to start it so the from backstage we would dim the lights and open the curtains as the music came to its closing crescendo. Oh, how I miss it! And seeing the building (there’s 20 apartments and seven store fronts remaining)in “Welcome to Collinwood” still chokes me up.