© 2026 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

What It Was: Opera House in Kent

Season 28 | 1m 08s

A grand building once stood on the corner of North Main and Columbus Streets in Downtown Kent. Built in 1889, the Kent Opera House boasted plush seating for 900 and a first-class stage. Throughout numerous financial difficulties over the decades, its decline was hastened by the Great Depression. Once dubbed the "handsomest building in town," it closed in the 1950s and was demolished in 1963.

Extras
Meet a Cleveland woman preserving the diaries of everyday Americans.
Northeast Ohio artists bring together birding, dance and jazz in Akron.
A stirring look at what is lost and found at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Sterling Lindner Davis department store on Euclid Ave. was known for its large Christmas tree.
Fashion makes a powerful statement at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
The new home of Visible Voice Books in Ohio City used to be a theater dating back to the 1920s.
We enter the historic wardrobe of the Kent State University Museum.
The building that houses Ideastream Public Media in Downtown Cleveland held many tenants since 1912.
Learn about the Akron artist who gave the Black Keys its moniker - Alfred McMoore.
The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield is one of the spookiest spots in Ohio.
All
  • All
  • Applause Season 28
  • Applause Season 27
  • Applause Season 26
  • Applause Season 25
  • Applause Season 24
  • Applause Season 23
  • Applause Season 22
  • Applause Season 19
  • Applause Season 18
  • Applause Season 17
  • Applause Season 16
  • Applause Season 15
Cleveland photographer David Schwartz gets his kicks on Route 66 with his camera.
Meet a Cleveland woman preserving the diaries of everyday Americans.
Northeast Ohio artists bring together birding, dance and jazz in Akron.
A stirring look at what is lost and found at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Fashion makes a powerful statement at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
We enter the historic wardrobe of the Kent State University Museum.
Learn about the Akron artist who gave the Black Keys its moniker - Alfred McMoore.
The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield is one of the spookiest spots in Ohio.
A Cleveland artist brings his journey of self-discovery to the stage.
A once abandoned parking lot is now a gathering place with public art in Cleveland's AsiaTown.