Elegant downtown theater opened 99 years ago

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Local News
By Lisa Powell
May 4, 2017
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Loew’s Theater, the first deluxe motion picture house in Dayton, opened 99 years ago.

The elegant theater, complete with sweeping stairways and lush carpeting, was a popular venue for the Dayton community.

» RELATED: Then & Now: Looking back in Dayton

The Loew's Dayton Theater, at 125 N. Main St., welcomed the public into its beautifully decorated auditorium on May 4, 1918. The theater was the city's first deluxe motion picture house, the 2,208 seat theater had a mezzanine area where you could look down at the people seated below through a hole in the center of the floor. Renamed the Palace in 1972, the theater closed in April 1975 and was razed a few months later. ARCHIVE

Credit: HANDOUT

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Credit: HANDOUT

When it first opened it was called the Dayton Theater. In 1924 it became Loew’s Dayton and in 1930 the name was shortened to Loew’s.

“The Remaking of a Nation” was the first feature picture shown in the 2,208-seat theater located at 125 N. Main St.

In 1972, it was renamed the Palace Theatre. It closed in April 1975 and was demolished a few months later. Today the site is used for parking.

» RELATED: When the community chipped in to open the Dayton Art Institute

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