Ritz Theatre

The Knickerbocker Theater was a movie theater placed in a new-build, multipurpose structure at 403-409 E. Grand Street at Kirkwood Street in downtown Akron. J.M. Romweber was the original operator equipping the Knickerbocker Theater with am 11'x14' Minusa gold fibre screen and Simplex S projectors. The opening film on October 7, 1915 was Lyda Borelli in “Love Everlasting”. It appears to have had a brief run under the Botzum Theatre Circuit. The Knickerbocker Theater closed early in 1922 and was auctioned in a Sheriff’s Sale.

The venue became a house of worship for three years. ABC Entertainment Circuit (named for operators C.D. Alexander, H.J. Bowman, and J.W. Corderman) took on the venue and reopened it as the Ritz Theatre on October 15, 1927. The Ritz Theatre closed permanently on April 5, 1929. It was converted to a fraternal hall for the Order of the Orioles and then the Owls where bingo, keno, and slot machines were found. It was converted for retail use in 1951.

The building was razed in favor of a parking garage in the 1960’s.

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