Cleveland in HDR – The 6th City Collection

Today’s Photo: Welcome to the Ohio Theater!

Standing on the stage of the Ohio Theater and looking out into the seats. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about the Ohio Theater:

“The Ohio Theatre is a theater on Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, part of Playhouse Square. The theater was built by Marcus Loew’s Loew’s Ohio Theatres company. It was designed by Thomas W. Lamb in the Italian Renaissance style, and was intended to present legitimate plays. The theater opened on February 14, 1921, with 1,338 seats. The foyer featured three murals depicting the story of Venus, and the balcony contained paintings of Arcadia. Throughout the 1920s, the Ohio had a stock company and hosted traveling Broadway plays.

In 1935, the theater was redecorated in an Art Deco style and transformed into a supper club called the Mayfair Casino. The owners hoped to turn the establishment into an actual casino, but since gambling was not allowed in Ohio, the Mayfair closed in 1936. The Loew’s Theatres chain (then the parent of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) acquired the building, and in 1943 the Ohio reopened as a movie theater. A 1964 lobby fire damaged the interior, which was painted red to hide the smoke damage. Decreasing patronage caused the theater to close in early February 1969, along with the rest of the Playhouse Square theaters. Twice the Ohio and State Theatres were threatened with razing in order to build a parking lot; in 1972, when the buildings were saved by public outcry, and again in 1977. The Playhouse Square Foundation responded by obtaining a long-term lease for the theaters, and the Loew’s Building was purchased by Cuyahoga County. In 1978, the Ohio was added to the National Register of Historic Places, along with the rest of the Playhouse Square group.

Because of the extent of the building’s fire damage, the Ohio was originally slated to be the last of the group to undergo renovation, but plans were accelerated so that the theater could become the home of the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival. The $4 million restoration took less than nine months, and on July 9, 1982, the Ohio Theatre became the first Playhouse Square theater to reopen, with 1,000 seats, showing Shakespeare’s As You Like It.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Theatre_(Cleveland,_Ohio)

Today’s Quote:

If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great – Tom Hanks

Fore more info: http://www.playhousesquare.org/

Today’s Photo: The Emperor’s Gun

This double barreled flintlock sporting gun was made by Jean Le Page for Napoleon Bonaparte, who in turn gave it to the Polish count, Vincent Corvin Graf von Krasine-Krasinski as a gift. Le Page was also the royal gun maker for the French king, Louis XVI. This amazing gun and many others can be viewed in the armored court section of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

For more info:

http://www.davidrumsey.com/amica/amico6100263-36064.html

http://www.clevelandart.org/

Today’s Quote: A picture is worth a thousand words.- Napoleon Bonaparte

Today’s Photo: Cleveland Skyline from the Viaduct

Today’s Cleveland photo was taken from the old Superior Rd. Viaduct near the Stonebridge Waterfront Apartments. I really love the way the city looks from this vantage point.

Today’s Quote: It’s really kind of hard to be a suburb of nothing. If you don’t have a downtown, you really don’t have anything. It’s hard to build a community around parking lots and subdivisions – Ed McMahon

Today’s Photo: Standing Alone

Today’s photo was taken at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. I thought everyone could use a little bit of spring on a day like this. It’s only a few months away!

Today’s Quote: You laugh at me because I’m different; I laugh at you because you’re all the same – Jonathan Davis

Today’s Photo: Cleveland’s Frozen Lighthouse

Today’s photo of the West Pier Lighthouse that’s encased in ice was taken last winter from Whiskey Island.  It reminds me of something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Constructed in 1911, the lighthouse was automated in 1965 and still flashes its beacon to alert ships every five seconds. The original Fresnel lens in now on exhibit at the nearby Great Lakes Science Center.

For more info: http://cleveland.about.com/od/clevelandattractions/ss/lighthouses_7.htm

Today’s Quote: Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making ships.- Charles Simic

Today’s Photo: Merry Christmas Cleveland

Given that this is my last blog post of the week I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and happy holiday season. This is one of my favorite photos of downtown at night so I thought I would share it with you.

Today’s Quote:

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home! – Charles Dickens

Today’s Photo: Tower City Christmas

Today’s Photo is of the large Christmas tree located in Tower City Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

Today’s Quote: Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart – Washington Irving

Today’s Photo: The Scary Monkey

Today’s Photo is of a rather scary looking monkey at the Cleveland Zoo. Although it looks like this monkey is ready to attack it is really only yawning.

Today’s Quote:

Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.- H. L. Mencken

Today’s Photo: Enter the tower

Today’s photo is of the entrance doors of the Terminal Tower. You can see the reflection of the key tower in the glass.

Today’s quote: “It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste” – Henry Ford

Today’s Photo: Edgewater Park

Edgewater Park is located on Cleveland’s west side and has beautiful views of the city. This park is divided into upper and lower areas that are connected by a paved bicycle path and fitness course.

For more info on this park:

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/clevelkf/tabid/721/Default.aspx

Today’s Quote:

“There is no black-and-white situation. It’s all part of life. Highs, lows, middles” -Van Morrison