Palace Theatre (Canton, Ohio)

Last updated

Palace Theater
Palace Theater Canton Ohio.JPG
Front Facade, facing Market Ave.
USA Ohio location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location605 Market Ave., N., Canton, Ohio
Coordinates 40°48′8″N81°22′25″W / 40.80222°N 81.37361°W / 40.80222; -81.37361
AreaLess than 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1926 (1926)
Architect John Eberson
NRHP reference No. 79001949 [1]
Added to NRHPApril 26, 1979

The Palace Theater is a historic movie palace in downtown Canton, Ohio, United States. Constructed during the heyday of the movie palace in the 1920s, it has been named a historic site. The 21' x 46' screen is the largest in Canton as of 2019. [2] It contains a Kilgen theater organ which is still playing to this day, thanks to an eight month restoration effort in 1992. [3] Only a few dozen such organs are still operational at their original sites.

Contents

History

Designed by John Eberson, a prominent architect specializing in movie palaces, the Palace is an atmospheric theater that opened in November 1926. Money for its construction was donated by a Canton industrialist, Harry Ink, whose firm became prosperous by producing "Tonseline", a medication for sore throats; the Tonseline logo was a giraffe with a bandaged throat, [4] and such a giraffe was included in the interior design. [5] In its early years, the Palace hosted a wide range of events: besides ordinary films, it hosted vaudeville performances and other stage productions, and numerous community events at the Palace placed it at the center of Canton society. [4]

Built of brick with elements of terracotta, [1] the Palace is a rectangular Churrigueresque building with a garden-themed main auditorium; its ceiling features elements designed to convey the sense of night and dawn, together with numerous stars, and the auditorium has a capacity of 1,509. [5] The facade is divided into sections of varying width, two on each side of a vertical sign rising above the rest of the building; all sections rise to numerous pinnacles. A central marquee shelters the zone under the vertical sign and beneath the two sections adjacent to the sign. Windows are placed near the base of the two sections on the sides of the facade. [6]

Historic status

The Palace was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, qualifying both because of its architecture and because of its place in community history. [1] Its historic status has been employed during events such as a 2012 fundraiser, during which its operators sought to raise more than $1 million to fund improvements to its utilities and its facade. [7]

Present day

The theater's Kilgen Wonder Organ is used to accompany silent films. The Mansfield, Ohio paper Richland Source described volunteer organist Jay Spencer as "well known in Canton" for his skillful silent film performances. [8] Another paper called the organ "a showpiece all by itself". [2]

Besides ordinary theater events, the Palace has hosted ghost hunters seeking the spirit of a young woman who was murdered in the theater in the 1930s. [9]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at least 56 events were canceled in 2020. Some silent films were streamed online to over 14,000 people. The films were screened in an empty theater outside of the technical director and organist.

The theater makes use of 228 volunteers for over 4,000 volunteer hours. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castro Theatre</span> Historic movie palace in San Francisco

The Castro Theatre is a historic movie palace in the Castro District of San Francisco, California. The venue became San Francisco Historic Landmark #100 in September 1976. Located at 429 Castro Street, it was built in 1922 with a California Churrigueresque façade that pays homage—in its great arched central window surmounted by a scrolling pediment framing a niche—to the basilica of Mission Dolores nearby. Its designer, Timothy L. Pflueger, also designed Oakland's Paramount Theater and other movie theaters in California during that period. The theater has more than 1,400 seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tennessee Theatre</span> United States historic place

The Tennessee Theatre is a movie palace in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. The theater was built in 1928 in the 1908 Burwell Building, considered Knoxville's first skyscraper. The theater and Burwell Building were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and the theater was extensively restored in the early 2000s. The Tennessee Theatre currently focuses on hosting performing arts events and classic films, and is home to the Knoxville Opera and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. The theater is managed by AC Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tampa Theatre</span> Theater in Tampa, Florida, United States

The Tampa Theatre is a historic U.S. theater and city landmark in Downtown Tampa, Florida. Designed as an atmospheric theatre-style movie palace by architect John Eberson, it opened on October 15, 1926. The theatre features a wide range of independent, foreign, and documentary films. It is Tampa's only non-profit movie palace, and operating costs are supported by its members, donors, and corporate sponsors, as well as by ticket and concessions sales. It has often been used as a backdrop for movies, music videos, and local programming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alabama Theatre</span> Movie theatre in Birmingham, Alabama, USA

The Alabama Theatre is a movie palace in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built in 1927 by Paramount's Publix Theatres chain as its flagship theater for the southeastern region of the United States. Seating 2,500 people at the time, it was the largest in the Birmingham theater district. The district was once home to many large theaters and movie palaces that featured vaudeville, performing arts, nickelodeons and Hollywood films. Built to show silent films, the Alabama still features its original Wurlitzer theater organ. The Alabama Theatre and Lyric Theatre are the district's only remaining theaters, and as of 2024, both are in operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Theatre (Atlanta)</span> Movie theater in Atlanta, Georgia, United States

The Fox Theatre, a former movie palace, is a performing arts venue located at 660 Peachtree Street NE in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, and is the centerpiece of the Fox Theatre Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan Theater (Ann Arbor, Michigan)</span> Theater in Michigan, United States

The Michigan Theater is a movie palace in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, near the Central Campus of the University of Michigan. It shows independent films and stage productions, and hosts musical concerts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byrd Theatre</span> Historic theater in Richmond, Virginia, US

The Byrd Theatre is a cinema in the Carytown neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. It was named after William Byrd II, the founder of the city. The theater opened on December 24, 1928 to much excitement and is affectionately referred to as "Richmond’s Movie Palace". Though equipped with a Wurlitzer pipe organ, the theatre was also one of the first of its kind to be originally outfitted for sound motion pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohio Theatre (Columbus, Ohio)</span> Theater and former movie theater in Columbus, Ohio

The Ohio Theatre is a performing arts center and former movie palace on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. Known as the "Official Theatre of the State of Ohio", the 1928 building was saved from demolition in 1969 and was later completely restored. The theater was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coronado Theatre</span> Theatre in Rockford, Illinois, US

The Coronado Performing Arts Center, in Rockford, Illinois, is a 2,400-seat theatre, designed by architect Frederic J. Klein. The theatre cost $1.5 million to build, and opened on October 9, 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramount Theatre (Seattle)</span> Performance hall in Seattle, Washington

The Paramount Theatre is a 2,807-seat performing arts venue located at 9th Avenue and Pine Street in the downtown core of Seattle, Washington, United States. The theater originally opened on March 1, 1928, as the Seattle Theatre, with 3,000 seats. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 1974, and has also been designated a City of Seattle landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atmospheric theatre</span> Type of movie theater

An atmospheric theatre is a type of movie palace design which was popular in the late 1920s. Atmospheric theatres were designed and decorated to evoke the feeling of a particular time and place for patrons, through the use of projectors, architectural elements and ornamentation that evoked a sense of being outdoors. This was intended to make the patron a more active participant in the setting.

The Tower Theatre, located in the 9th and 9th neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, is a historic film theater operated by the Salt Lake Film Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palace Theatre (Columbus, Ohio)</span> Performing arts center in Columbus, Ohio, a former movie theater

The Palace Theatre is a 2,695-seat restored movie palace located at 34 W. Broad Street in Columbus, Ohio. It was designed and built in 1926 by the American architect Thomas W. Lamb as part of the American Insurance Union Citadel. Today the theater functions as a multi-use performing arts venue. It is owned and operated by The Columbus Association for the Performing Arts. The Palace Theater's "house" is considered separate from LeVeque Tower, while the marquee and lobby are part of the LeVeque complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilbert Circle Theatre</span> Historic theater in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

The Hilbert Circle Theatre, originally called the Circle Theatre, is in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Monument Circle in the Washington Street-Monument Circle Historic District. It was originally built in 1916 as a "deluxe movie palace" and now is the home of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern Theatre (Boston)</span> Former theater in Boston, demolished, only the facade remaining

The Modern Theatre is located on Washington Street in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It opened as a movie theater in 1914 in a former commercial building that had been repurposed by noted theater architect Clarence H. Blackall. In 2009 Suffolk University demolished the long-vacant building after removing and storing the facade, and constructed a new building on the site. Suffolk's new Modern Theatre opened on November 4, 2010.

The Marr & Colton Company was a producer of theater pipe organs, located in Warsaw, New York. The firm was founded in 1915 by David Jackson Marr and John J. Colton. The company built between 500 and 600 organs for theatres, churches, auditoriums, radio stations, and homes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indiana Theatre (Terre Haute, Indiana)</span> United States historic place

The Indiana Theatre is a historic theater in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 13, 1997 and is located in the Wabash Avenue-East Historic District. It opened on January 28, 1922. The theatre was built by Terre Haute resident T. W. Barhydt and was designed by John Eberson. Eberson, who later developed the atmospheric theater style of movie palace, first experimented with atmospheric design elements at the theatre. Eberson stated, "Into this Indiana Theatre I have put my very best efforts and endeavors in the art of designing a modern theatre such as I have often pictured as what I would do were I given a free hand." Through this quote Eberson suggests that the Indiana Theatre embodies the raw beginning of his experiment with a "dream" theater that marked the beginning shift to his atmospheric style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheldon Theatre</span> United States historic place

The Sheldon Theatre is a historic performance venue in Red Wing, Minnesota, United States, built in 1904. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 as the T.B. Sheldon Memorial Auditorium for having local significance in the theme of performing arts. It was nominated for being the first municipally owned theatre in the United States and a long-standing cultural venue in Red Wing. It later became a contributing property to the Red Wing Mall Historic District as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Theater (Wausau, Wisconsin)</span>

The Grand Theater is a historic theater and performing arts center in Wausau, Wisconsin, offering a variety of musical and artistic performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State Theatre (Kalamazoo, Michigan)</span>

The State Theatre is a Spanish-styled atmospheric theatre in Kalamazoo, Michigan, designed by renowned architect John Eberson. The State was built for W.S. Butterfield Theatres in 1927, and remains in operation today, presenting live shows. The theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 Kerr, Beverly. "Gypsy Road Trip: Canton Palace Theatre Presents Year-round Entertainment". The Daily Jeffersonian.
  3. "Canton Palace Theatre".
  4. 1 2 Owen, Lorrie K., ed. Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1294.
  5. 1 2 Moore, Gay Morgan. Canton . Charleston: Arcadia, 2009, 57.
  6. Palace Theater, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  7. Porter, Akilah (November 19, 2012). "Canton Palace Theatre's Transformation". WKSU. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  8. "Silent film "Phantom" with theatre organ to be performed at the Ren". Richland Source. October 6, 2019.
  9. "Ghost Hunters to Converge on Palace Theatre". The Repository . September 28, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  10. Kane, Dan. "Canton Palace Theatre loses 56 events to COVID-19". The Repository.