ASHLAND — This week marked a turning point in the renovation of the Ashland Schine’s Theatre.
Simonson Construction hoisted and hung a replicated version of the downtown theatre’s iconic marquee above the entryway Monday and fully installed it — complete with large block letters spelling “Ashland” — by late Tuesday afternoon.
“We’ve been waiting for this,” said Bill Sample of the Ashland Schine’s Theatre Organization. “It shows the community just how serious we are about renovating this property.”
The process began a few years ago when the theatre was purchased with hopes to return the run-down property to its glory days. The Ashland Schine’s Theatre Organization looks to include a single screen and stage venue to be used as it was intended many years ago and to preserve the building’s history in the process.
To make the new marquee, employees from Harris Welding studied old prints and took measurements from the former signage.
“We reversed engineered it,” operations manager Casey Kline said. “It’s not hard, it’s just time consuming.”
A Mapleton native, Kline said it’s rewarding to see the new marquee in place.
“It’s just kind of neat to see the place getting cleaned up,” he said.
Simonson Construction’s project manager Jason Chio emphasized how the marquee was made and installed solely by local businesses. Harris Welding made the metal pieces, BCU electric did the wiring and lighting, and Simonson Construction installed the signage with a crane.
“You can’t just go to a factory and get that made. Everything on it is custom,” Chio said.
Simonson Construction also recently installed all new entryway doors and renovated the exterior ticket booth. This along with the renovated marquee has dramatically changed the building’s exterior.
“It’s a huge step for us. For the community, that says there is something going on there,” Chio said. “Curb appeal of the building is improved immensely.”
The theatre first opened on March 27, 1942, featuring live entertainment. It was converted into a triplex in the mid-1970s and continued to show movies in the three theaters until Ashland Square Cinema closed its doors in 2011. From that point, the building sat unused for four years until the Schine’s Theatre Organization purchased it in July 2015.
The Ashland Schine’s Theatre Organization hopes to re-open the theatre by the end of 2020.
“It’s putting the pressure on us, but you have to set a goal,” Sample said.
