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This postcard features the fire and destruction of the Marion Grand Opera House in Marion, Ohio.
This postcard is rare. At the time of writing this, there is only one other postcard having to do with the Marion OH Grand Opera House fire for sale, but it's of the aftermath. No other postcard, at this time, exists for sale of this fire as it was raging.
You can see in the foreground a business that hopefully escaped the fire raging behind it: F.A. Stengel Optometry with the street address of 130. Also on the building butted up against the on-fire Opera House is the Marion Business College.The Grand Opera House was opened August 19, 1896 and was designed by Pittsburg architect William Kauffman with 1,086 seats. On December 6, 1910 it was gutted by a fire. It was rebuilt and opened as the Alhambra Theatre on November 9, 1914 with a production of “The Quaker Girl”. Using the original façade which had survived the fire, the Alhambra Theatre was designed by Columbus architect Edward Elford and had 845 seats. It was built by the Elks, and was leased to Gus Sun who presented vaudeville. In 1916 it was renamed Grand Theatre.
On May 1, 1930 it was renamed Ohio Theatre following renovations. In 1946 it was taken over by the Selected Theatres Inc. and they did further renovations in 1949. The Ohio Theatre was renamed Cinema Ohio on December 5, 1969. It was closed in the mid-to-late 1970’s, and is still vacant in 2015.
Please inspect the pictures, as they give the best representation of condition.May have discoloring, edge or corner wear, marks, creases, fading, smudges, corner or edge bends, tears, or corners missing.
(A150 inventory number)
