About the Ro-Na Theater

The Ro-Na Theater opened its doors to the public in 1949. Once upon a time, the Ro-Na Theater was the place to be in downtown Ironton and it was considered one of the finest facilities of its kind in all of Ohio.

The theater is an art deco style, featuring glass block columns and neon lighting. Among the most prominent features of the theater were the murals on the interior that depicted various historical scenes from the ti-state region. During its heyday the Ro-Na Theater showed such classic films as “The Ten Commandments,” “King Kong” and “The Godfather.” Unfortunately, the theater closed in 1973.

In January 2008, the Hampton family, the owners of the theater, expressed interest in donating the former Ro-Na to the city of Ironton. The deed to the Ro-Na Theater was transferred to the city by February. In May the Public Utility Committee of the Ironton City Council established a goal of constructing a new roof for the Ro-Na Theater. By July the city had started a volunteer act to clean up all of the debris inside of the theater.

By July 2009, the City of Ironton had begun work on removing, repairing and constructing a new roof for the theater. There have been many bills, ordinances, and pledges put in place to help fund the renovations of this historic theater. In May of 2014 the Ro-Na marquee was reinstalled and relit.

The Ro-Na Restoration Committee is a volunteer committee dedicated to restoring the historical Ro-Na Theater. This project will restore quality art and entertainment to the residents of the City of Ironton and the surrounding communities. After the renovations are complete, the new facility will have an expanded stage, a professional kitchen, the property adjacent to the Ro-Na Theater will be turned into rehearsal rooms and there will also be more rooms added for storage and office space.

Almost all of the funding that has gone into the renovations for the Ro-Na Theater has come from fundraisers, the Ro-Na Restoration Committee and Friends of Ironton. There have been efforts made to make sure that the building is stabilized including a new roof, fire safety doors,
and basic heating. There have been many events recently to help raise awareness and revenue including many different performing artists, the Just for Fun’ds Film Festival, a Night with the Mayor, etc. The Ro-Na Theater opens many doors for new artists, performers, merchants, etc.
to come to the Ironton area. The arts will help to bring tourism and funds to the area as well.

It’s time, today, to raise even more revenue for the renovations of the Ro-Na Theater. The Extant Premiere event will be one of many events to help raise not just awareness of how important the theater is to the community but also to raise funding to see the building become just as good, if not better, than it was over 60 years ago.