Ohio Theater To Be Demolished
By Devin Loftus | Online Only | July 20, 2010
The 1929 Studio Theater, located in Middletown, Ohio, southwest of Dayton, will be demolished.
Credit: CHAPS
An abandoned theater in Middletown, Ohio—the last building left on half a block of Central Avenue—awaits its demolition, with little hope for salvation.
Located between the busy east side of Middletown and the deteriorating historic buildings of its west side, the 1929 Studio Theater was scheduled to be demolished last year, when its neighboring buildings were razed, but the city ran out of funding. The city is now accepting bids for the theater's demolition, which will take place as soon as the city finds the money.
"It could be this year, it might be beyond that," says Mike Robinette, economic development director for Middletown.
While some community members are nostalgic about the historic theater, no one has proposed a solution thus far.
Opened as the Strand Theater on October 23, 1929, the movie house stood as part of a thriving little All-American city. The Strand closed in 1959 and reopened as the Studio Theater in 1964 after a renovation. The west side of Middletown was a place where now-lifeless storefronts once housed dress shops, restaurants, department stores, hardware shops—all locally owned stores, explains Cynda Kash, Middletown resident and board member of Citizens for Historic and Preservation Services, or CHAPS. East Middletown, an area booming with chain businesses and new development, has left the west side of Middletown a ghost town, she says.
"[Downtown] hustled. It was alive. … A great peace of Americana," Kash recalls. "It was almost magical. Middletown was your town, your people."
Closed off and on since 1984, the Studio Theater is now a vastly different place, and with miniscule local involvement, Kash explains, few see what it could be again.
Last September, the theater's owner, Butler Realty Co., donated the building to the City of Middletown. The city targeted the Studio, along with several other structures along Central Avenue, as part of a demolition effort to rid the city of blight.
Due to lack of funding from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the city deferred the theater's demolition. What will become of the site following demolition remains uncertain. "We hope to redevelop it into housing," Robinette says.
Robinette explains that the site of the Studio Theater is outside of the core of downtown and that a previous owner stripped it of its contents. The city, Robinette says, would certainly welcome proposals for the site if any were to be presented. As of yet, he says, no one has approached the city with plans for refurbishing the existing structure.
"We keep losing our history," Kash says. "We need a savior, some type of visionary here."
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Comments
Submitted by PHranque at: July 29, 2010
The lyricist who penned the words "Way to Go Ohio" is actually Chrissie Hynde, not Pat Nebetar (uh, huh huh huh). Still, what a brilliant, insightful comment!
Submitted by To Brian at: July 26, 2010
Yes, the building to the left has been demolished.
Submitted by Brian at: July 24, 2010
The article said that nearby buildings were razed. Does that include the building to the left in the photo?
Submitted by TaxiManSteve at: July 20, 2010
To quote Pat Penatar... "Way to Go Ohio!"
Submitted by jeberly at: July 20, 2010
Here is a win win solution...turn it into lofts. Want housing and want to keep it. Looks like it would make for a trendy upscale residential loft apartments, with quaint retail below. A definition of blight needs to be given. I hardly call this blight yet....keep neglecting it and it will, but do you not have any laws on maintaining reasonable standards of property?