State Theater Demo (latest photos)

[jay]

GONE!

[jay]

I just noticed the old sign painted on the side of the building next to the State Theater.  I will start another message thread to discuss the Bloch Bros. sign.

[jay]

Now the rubble is being scooped up and hauled away.


Click on the photo for a larger view

[jay]

All that remains are piles of scrap and piles of demolition debris.


Click on the photo for a larger view

[AllanY2525]

Well, I am glad that the facade was saved.  It is a piece of Youngstown's history
and, if done tastefully, will make an excellent display that should augment whatever
they might build on that piece of land in the future.

[northside lurker]

What will become of the land?  Another parking lot?

Yes.   At least for now.

[Smokey362]

What will become of the land?  Another parking lot?

[AllanY2525]

So weak in fact, that the building only stood 100 years!

I'm not saying that the old speed tiles weren't strong, I'm just saying that they are not
as strong as newer materials.  Most of the new houses being built now aren't even using
cinder block any more - they are using solid concrete foundations, poured into a mold
with steel re-bar embedded in it.

My apartment building on the North Side is also about 100 years old, and still standing - BUT
there are several areas in the building that are going to have to be re-inforced and repaired
when the building is rebuilt inside.  This is mainly due to the failure of several areas inside
where speed tile was used in the construction of the building.

There was a fire in one of the third floor apartments in 2002 (before I bought the place) and the
speed tile at the top of the structural walls basically shattered and disintegrated due to the heat
from the fire.  When they put the new roof on the place a couple years ago, they had to replace
it with concrete block and mortar to lift the deck of the roof up to where it should have been
when the fire damage was originally repaired.

Cinder block tends to fare better in the presence of fire than speed tile, for sure.
Bear in mind, also, that the State Theater had a structural skeleton composed of
STEEL GIRDER beams - whereas my apartment building does NOT have steel
girders inside its walls.

Another major reason for some of the structural failures in the building is the
fact that the concrete slabs that make up the bathroom floors were poured over
old fashioned, WOODEN beams - it's hard to believe that they actually built the
place in this fasion, when structural steel probably should have been used
beneath the slabs.

We've had to put safety trusses and steel jack posts under these slabs to make
them stable, for the time being.

[Rick Rowlands]

So weak in fact, that the building only stood 100 years!

[AllanY2525]

Jay,

EXACTLY !  Those hollow, fluted (terra cotta, I believe) bricks with the
ridges along their outside edges are "Speed Tiles".  By today's standards,
they are quite weak structurally.  That layer of real brick over top of the
speed tiles in your photo is what provides most of the structural support
for this old type of masonry.

[jay]

Allan,

See the photo below.  Are these the hollow ceramic bricks you mentioned?

---------------
PK

I believe the white bricks were on the exterior wall along West Boardman Street.  See photo below.

---------------

Click on the photo for a larger view

[DefendYoungstown]

Off topic, however, I went to the demo site yesterday and requested a brick as a keepsake. The demo crew folks were very nice and asked if I wanted a white or a red brick (not sure where the white was located inside of the theater). So, if you'd like a brink, just ask the friendly demo crew and they will grant your request.

PK

[AllanY2525]

When did they start using speed tile?

I'm not sure exactly when they started and stopped using Speed tile, but my apartment building
was built between 1910 and 1914, and it is loaded with the stuff.  I'm thinking it was probably
used from around 1900 or so, up until the forties, when cinder-block came into use.

Another bad quality of speed tile is that in a fire, it tends to shatter/explode from the heat.
By today's standards, it is definitely NOT very strong in and of itself, but fares better when
used with layers of real brick.

[Towntalk]

I've just uploaded two photographs of the Morley building from 1920 when it was the Moose Temple.

http://community.webshots.com/user/ladynews500

Look at the top of the building ... the building had a rooftop Summer Garden and Pergola.

When it was built (It took about 2 years to build) it cost $200,000.00.

In the basement was a grill, billiard room, bowling alley, and shower rooms. The large auditorium (see photo), complete with a balcony was on the third floor and was used not only by the Moose but opened for concerts and other uses for the general public.

Is the balcony still in the auditorium today?

The building was constructed with red brick and Terra cotta.

[Source for information: Youngstown Vindicator, Sunday, August 29, 1920]

[Towntalk]

If I'm not mistaken, the Morley building was constructed in the early 1900's as the Moose Auditorium. I have a couple of pictures of the building somewhere in my files, and if I can find them I'll put them up on my Webshots site.

When did they start using speed tile?