04/04/2020
The Uptown Theater, once known as “Youngstown’s Luxury Theater” sits prominently on Market Street in the center of the once bustling Uptown District. Uptown was a popular retail, dining, and nightlife area for several decades. It’s storied past includes rock concerts at Mickey’s Bar (such as The Raspberries & The Human Beinz), fine dining at Cicero’s and The Colonial House, new movies at the Uptown Theater, and even the famous “Youngstown Tuneup” mob hit in which a car bomb killed a Cleveland mob boss and caused damage to buildings even several blocks away. After all these years of neglect, the Uptown Theater is finally beginning to be restored! For the first time in 50+ years, the original 1920s facade of the Uptown is now visible. However, the marquee is damaged beyond repair and will likely be removed. Likewise, the original iconic neon signs will not be placed back on the building. As sad as it is to see those original design features go, it is amazing to see progress finally coming to the theater, and I hope it can succesfully open once again some day. The second picture shows the theater in the 1990s when Easy Street Productions briefly brought it back to life - the theater looked like that until last week when the original facade was re-exposed. I may write a blog post on this theater, or Uptown’s history, so if you are interested in that, please let me know!
@ Youngstown, Ohio
