Skip to content
Ro-Na Theater & Conference Center — Home
Events & Tickets

Our History

The Ro-Na, 1949 to Today

A 1949 movie palace, decades dark, brought back by nearly twenty years of stubborn local effort.

Key facts at a glance

  • The Ro-Na Theater opened to the public in 1949 in downtown Ironton, Ohio.
  • The Ro-Na building is Art Deco in style, with glass block and neon lighting.
  • The Ro-Na showed films until it closed in 1973.
  • The Ro-Na building returned to community hands in 2008, and roof work began in 2009.
  • The Ro-Na's restored neon marquee was reinstalled and relit in May 2014, after roughly four decades dark.
  • A state-supported renovation completed the Ro-Na's auditorium, balcony, stage, and back-of-house spaces.
  • The venue operates today as the Ro-Na Theater and Conference Center, stewarded by the nonprofit Friends of Ironton, at 312 S. 3rd Street, Ironton, Ohio 45638.

From the archive

Black-and-white 1949 photograph of the newly built Ro-Na Theatre on Third Street, with 1940s cars parked outside and the original marquee announcing the grand opening
"The New Ro-Na Theatre and Restaurant — erected 1949."
Painted mural of Ironton scenes — smoking factories, an airplane, civic buildings, and a mid-century car — from the Ro-Na's heritage
A heritage mural of Ironton's bridge, riverfront, and factory scenes — the steel-town identity the theater was built into.

Timeline

  1. 1949 A movie palace for a steel town

    The Ro-Na Theater opens in downtown Ironton, Ohio — a thoroughly modern movie house wearing its era proudly, with streamline Art Deco lines, glass block, and neon lighting. A photograph from that year is captioned "The New Ro-Na Theatre and Restaurant — erected 1949."

  2. 1949–1973 The cinema decades

    For nearly a quarter century the Ro-Na is Ironton's picture house. The theater closes in 1973, and the marquee goes dark.

  3. 1973–2008 The dark years

    For more than three decades the building sits largely silent while downtown Ironton changes around it, deteriorating badly — photographs from 2008 and 2010 show the condition the rescue effort started from.

  4. 2008 The building comes home

    The Ro-Na returns to community hands, and the rescue begins: by summer, volunteers are clearing debris from inside the theater.

  5. 2009 Roof first, then everything else

    Work begins on removing, repairing, and constructing a new roof — the start of a long, volunteer-driven, locally funded restoration. Early stabilization also brings fire safety doors and basic heating.

  6. May 2014 The marquee shines again

    The Ro-Na's neon marquee is reinstalled and relit — the first time the sign has glowed over Third Street in roughly four decades.

  7. 2014–2022 A working venue again

    Even mid-restoration, the Ro-Na works for a living: bluegrass and soul concerts, an Elvis tribute, comedy, film nights, trivia, community fundraisers, and a long-running haunted house. During this era the venue operates under the name Ro-Na Cultural Center — a name now retired in favor of the Ro-Na Theater and Conference Center.

  8. Today The renovation that finished the job

    A state-supported renovation brings the building fully back to life — the auditorium, balcony seating, restrooms, the stage, and the back-of-house spaces — and adds what makes the Conference Center side of the house possible: rehearsal and meeting space, green rooms, and office space.

Why the story matters

The renovation was made possible by state support and years of local fundraising, fundraisers, and volunteer work — a community effort from the first debris cleanout to the finished house.

And the story isn't a museum piece — it's the reason this building works the way it does. When you buy a ticket, book a meeting room, or hold your wedding reception in the auditorium, you're keeping a 1949 movie palace alive and earning its own way in downtown Ironton.

See What's On Support the Ro-Na