Thursday, March 11, 2021 1:00 am
June 23, 1961: Demolishing interior of Lyric Theater
COREY MCMAKEN | The Journal Gazette
In 1961, the auditorium of the old Lyric Theater downtown was demolished as part of planned renovations to turn the building s lobby and second-floor into storefronts and office with a parking lot in the rear.
The building at 1014 S. Calhoun St., just south of Washington Boulevard in the block where the Hilton now stands, had been built in 1908 and was home to vaudeville and traveling shows. In the early 1920s, it became the Riley Theater burlesque house and in 1926 was purchased by the Mallers Brothers of Lima, Ohio, who converted it into a movie house.