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photo courtesy Canton Palace Theatre
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JOSEPH ALBERT
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JOSEPH ALBERT
A Theatrical Nonagenarian
The Canton Palace Theatre celebrates nine decades of entertainment
The Canton Palace Theatre has been a staple of downtown Canton for 90 years. The building has seen a great deal of drama throughout its life. From a glistening gem that was the place to be to a close brush with a demolition crew, the Palace has survived the struggles that time threw its way—now a heritage point for all of Canton to be proud of. To celebrate this milestone, the theater will host events all year long. “Nine events for 90 years,” says Georgia Paxos, the executive director.
In the beginning, the building was an epicenter of entertainment. According to the theater’s website, the building was a gift to the community from Harry Harper Ink. A local entrepreneur and industrialist, he owned the locally-based Tonsiline Company. The company made cough syrup formula and had a unique marketing strategy where they actually sold the substance in giraffe-shaped bottles.
The theater was designed by John Eberson—a prolific designer of atmospheric theaters. Utilizing theming you may see at a modern-day amusement park and decorating interiors with detailed plaster-work, Eberson changed the theater-goer’s experience greatly and left his mark on the field. The Canton theater was designed with a Spanish courtyard look, using the atmospheric technology to project clouds over audiences’ heads, along with a simulated midsummer night sky—complete with twinkling stars. The Palace still has a few original features, including the lighting system that transforms the sky from sunrise to sunset, its twinkling stars and the Kilgen Pipe Organ.
“ When it first opened up, it [was] a vaudeville theater, and it was really a testament to the popularity of our area with how many performers were coming through at that time,” says Paxos. At the time, Northeast Ohio was home to not only the Palace, but also the Akron Civic Theatre, the Lorain Palace Theatre, the Ohio Theatre and others. Canton itself had a handful of theaters. “This was your source of entertainment,” says Paxos. Audiences came to the theater for not only entertainment, but for their news and socialization. The many forms of entertainment currently available were non-existent, distilled down into this activity. “We are the only theater that remained. All the other [Canton] theaters were torn down years and years ago. So we are really proud of ourselves [for] maintaining the entertainment value in downtown Canton.”
However, it was not a smooth road from then to now. The theater fell into a diminished state in the 1960s and 1970s and the doors were closed in 1976 after 50 years of business. The building faced a close brush with wrecking crews before being saved by the Canton Jaycees and concerned citizens. This group eventually became The Canton Palace Theatre Association. They were able to reopen the building in 1980 as a nonprofit, and restoration has been ongoing since then—with about four million dollars spent so far.
“ We’re on the national historic registry, so everything we do is historically accurate to the building. We still have our stars in the sky and our cloud machine, and we really have been able to keep the historic [quality] of those two items, but also modernize them.” The stars are now LED lights, making them shine much brighter and run more efficiently. The cloud machine has also been retrofitted so that it is more energy-efficient and affordable to operate. “Now we are able to project some really cool images on the ceiling of the Palace in addition to the clouds.”
From opening day to current day, the Palace has held a special place in the hearts of those who love it. “What’s really special about this place is the emotional connection that many people in the community have to the Palace.” From first movies to first dates, the building has been the setting for many memorable scenes in locals’ lives. Paxos hears family stories often. One that stood out to her was recounted during a wedding hosted at the venue. “I had asked the bride: why did you pick the Palace? It was her grandparents’ first date, her parents first date and their first date.”
The Palace also offers family movies, drawing in a younger audience. “We’re bringing in the next generation of supporters to really appreciate the building and the meaning to our community.”
As the years continue to pass, the Palace will remain an important part of Canton’s cultural footprint. “It represents an entertainment district that used to be very vibrant, and now we maintain that spirit of entertainment and provide the diverse offerings to all parts of our community here in downtown Canton.”
