MIDLAND HISTORY & RESTORATION

• December 20, 1928

• The First Golden Era

• The Midland Goes Dark

• Your Theatre... Reborn

THE MIDLAND GOES DARK

In 1978, The Midland Theatre, showing increasing decay and decreasing attendance, closed. A power outage during the "Blizzard of '78" caused the boilers to freeze and crack, sealing the theatre's fate.

For 14 years, The Midland stood unused. The splendor of the architecture had faded, and deterioration continued unabated. Talk arose of demolishing the once-proud theatre, now an eyesore and a hazard. All that remained was the shell of The Midland’s former glory...and the memories.

Then, in 1992, Dave Longaberger and The Longaberger Company purchased The Midland. As a tribute to Dave's vision, The company undertook an 8-year, $8.5 million renovation and restoration of The Midland. Longaberger had no desire to operate the theatre, instead entrusting the property to The Newark Midland Theatre Association, a local volunteer, non-profit organization.

When the construction crew started the task of renovating The Midland, its roof was gone, and the orchestra pit and lower part of the auditorium was filled with rain water and debris. After getting the water out, they built a ramp down into the pit (an appropriate description at the time!), took a front loader down into the mess and started scooping out the pit and then the auditorium.

THE FIRST GOLDEN AGE • YOUR THEATRE...REBORN