Historic Marysville theater collapses
MARYSVILLE, OH (WCMH) — “It’s devastating. It’s heartbreaking.”
Around 10:30p, Thursday, the Avalon Theater in Marysville collapsed. The entire back side of the building crumbled and is now just piles of brick and wood.
Crews got to work as soon as the sun came up Friday morning. There was also a hole in the side of the neighboring building where someone was living. That person left for the night while the crews patch up the damaged siding.
The historic Avalon Theater in Marysville has been an iconic part of the town since 1936. It was closed in 2009 and has been sitting vacant since then. The non-profit that now operates and owns the theater, Marysville Uptown Theater, was formed in 2017.
“This theater has a rich history of being the focal point for arts and culture.”
Sarah Barr is the Executive Director for the Avalon Theater and she says the building was examined and inspected before they began demolition. They knew of some structural deterioration but didn’t think it would come to this.
“It held this beautiful building up for so long that it’s bones kind of crumbled,” explained Barr. “It was a structural trust that has given way due to damage.”
They had the building cleaned out down to the bones to start the restoration with a clean slate but now they will have to create a new foundation for the backside of the building before moving on.
Marysville residents were sad to see what happened overnight. Troy Hatch remembers taking his kids to the theater when they were young. He also knows that even with a little setback like this, the theater will come back to life. “Now there’s a little more work to do.”
The theater will eventually hold 300 people and pay homage to what it once and is a special part of historic uptown Marysville.
“It’s historic.”
Even though Barr knows they will continue moving ahead on the restoration, she realizes what’s really lost here isn’t time or money, it’s a piece of history. “We’re a non-profit organization. We know how important it is to salvage as much history as we possibly can.”
We’re told the original reopening was August 2021 but obviously they will have to evaluate the extra work and see it’s still feasible. Barr says they’re optimistic it can still happen.