YOUNGSTOWN Marker commemorates Warner theater

Powers Auditorium is one of the few remaining theaters the brothers built.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A historical marker commemorating motion picture pioneers Albert, Harry, Jack and Sam Warner and their theater will be unveiled at 11 a.m. Tuesday in front of Edward W. Powers Auditorium.
The marker was presented to the Youngstown Symphony Society, which operates the auditorium, by the Ohio Bicentennial Commission under a grant from Time Warner Corp. The marker's text was prepared by H. William Lawson, executive director of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society.
Albert, Harry and Jack Warner built the auditorium in 1931 in memory of their parents and brother Sam. The art deco structure remained active as a movie house until 1968.
Preservation effort
The theater, slated for demolition, was bought by the symphony society with the financial backing of Mr. and Mrs. Edward W. Powers. The society raised money to restore and technologically remodel the theater to become the home of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, and reopened it as the symphony center Sept. 20, 1969.
Today, more than 123,000 people visit the auditorium annually for performances, meetings and celebrations.
"As stewards of this Mahoning Valley historical landmark, one of the few remaining theaters constructed by the Warner brothers in the United States, we are reminded of the role Youngstown has played in the development of a worldwide movie industry," said Gary J. Roberts, symphony society president, in remarks prepared for delivery at Tuesday's ceremony.
The marker's inscription says the Warner brothers "were members of a Jewish immigrant family from Poland that settled in Youngstown in the mid-1890s. The brothers attended local schools and worked in their father's shoe repair shop and meat market before entering the motion picture business."
"They purchased a projector and opened their first of several theaters in the Mahoning Valley in 1905. The brothers left Youngstown for New York and Hollywood as their company developed into an industry leader."