Schine's Wooster Theater (1912-1999)
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
Schine's Wooster Theater, circa 1933.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The Wooster Theater opened in 1912 as the Lyric Theater. At that time, tickets were ten cents for adults and five cents for kids, and the movies were operated by a hand crank. In 1914, the theater had to close temporarily as a result of a scarlet fever outbreak. Three years later, the 300-seat theater was renovated to fit 700 seats. The theater closed again due to the flu epidemic in 1918. The Lyric became Schine’s Wooster Theater in 1931 after it became associated with the Schine’s Theater chain and was remodeled to include 1,100 seats.
In 1967, the theater’s owner, Ed Mott, sold it to the Panther chain of theaters. Locals Henry and Chell Bishop bought and renovated the Wooster Theater in the 1970s and kept it open until operating costs forced them to close it in 1981. From 1982 to 1988, the building was used as the Theatrical Lounge nightclub, which eventually went bankrupt. The structure was then left vacant until it was demolished in 1999.
Sources
Schine's Wooster Theater. Cinema Treasures. Accessed October 08, 2018. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1172. Photo source.