The La Salle Theatre was a prized theatrical hub when it was finished in the 1910s. It’s now on the market for its new owner. Credit: David Schwartz

In 1917, shortly after the close of World War I, Italian-born architect Nicola Petti was hired to design 11 theaters to be built in the Cleveland area. They were to be spectacular buildings in the Neo-Classical Revival style popular at the time, an aesthetic to capture Cleveland’s growing population of families.

Today, only three of those theaters remain: Cedar-Lee, the Variety on Lorain, and La Salle on East 185th Street.

For the La Salle Theatre, which is now for sale, its moment on the market follows nearly two decades of historical preservation, rehabbing of retail space, relighting of its classic fiery marquee (once nearly destroyed by a tornado) and other work done by the Northeast Shores Development Corporation, North Collinwood’s CDC, which bought the La Salle for $250,000 more than a decade ago when it was possibly facing the wrecking ball.

“We took it over in 2009,” Caroline Peak, the president of Northeast Shores told Scene. “It would have been demolished had we not taken over the building.”

“It’s been a long, beautiful journey,” Peak added. “But it has been a journey.”

In 2018, nine years after Ward 8 Councilman Michael Polensek helped designate La Salle a historic landmark, effectively saving it from becoming a parking lot, Northeast injected $4.7 million into rehabbing the vacant theater into a media and event center.

The revitalization gifted a new era for La Salle, which now hosts everything from 400-person weddings to soft-lift ballets and miniature motorcycle expos. With the aiding of tax credits, in 2020 and 2021, NSDC rebooted the sound system and redid its theatrical lighting, as a Northeast Regional Sewer district grant allowed them to build a 39-space parking lot. Councilman Polensek even helped fund a kitchen.

La Salle’s graduation from NSDC rehab project to new, independent owner comes as the Cleveland area as a whole breathes new life into its vintage theaters. In 2017, after an expensive two-year build, the Aragon Ballroom in Clark-Fulton found new life after it was almost condemned. And in May 2022, Kelly Flamos, a former owner of Mahall’s Lanes in Lakewood, announced she would spearhead a new phase of the Variety.

Peak said it’s why she hasn’t listed a price: Taking over La Salle isn’t an opportunity to flip, or convert, but a chance for furthered “civic stewardship.”

“We’ve gotten it to a point where we’re able to put it on the market and have someone who really is invested in our community, has loved the arts,” she said. “And will be a good person to be in our community to keep our vision going.”

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This article appears in Jan 25 – Feb 7, 2023.

Mark Oprea is a staff writer at Scene. He's covered Cleveland for the past decade, and has contributed to TIME, NPR, Narratively, the Pacific Standard and the Cleveland Magazine. He's the winner of two Press Club awards.