Medina council moves to authorize demolition of downtown Masonic Temple; residents recall theater’s role

The Medina City Council opened consideration of Ordinance 101-16, which would authorize the mayor to enter a contract with Johnson Lux Construction for demolition of the Masonic Temple at 120 North Elward Avenue.

A council member read the ordinance and moved approval; a second was indicated. City staff and council members urged an emergency clause, saying structural steel inside the temple has corroded and exterior walls are beginning to buckle, creating a potential liability and leaving demolition as the city’s most cost‑effective option.

“...the interior structural steel has been rusting away and been beginning to fail and the outside walls are beginning to buckle,” a council member said while explaining the administration’s recommendation to use a competitively bid contract through a joint powers purchasing program.

The transcript records several council members and longtime residents saying they had sought ways to save the building but concluded restoration was not practicable. One council member said the decision was emotional for people who grew up locally but framed demolition as a step toward downtown redevelopment.

Longtime resident Pat Wiggle, who identified himself during the meeting, urged recognition of what the adjacent theater had meant to generations of residents. “They opened the doors and they had exactly one patron. They made $2.50 that night,” Pat Wiggle recalled of the family’s first night running the theater, describing how the business later became a community hub with Saturday matinees, newsreels and bank nights.

Speakers at the meeting described the theater’s heyday in the 1940s–1960s, its 870‑seat capacity and the role it played as both a social center and a first job for many local youths. Several speakers said they hoped whatever replaces the theater and temple site would serve community needs.

The ordinance text read into the record names the contractor (Johnson Lux Construction) and the property (the Masonic Temple located at 120 North Elward Avenue). The transcript documents the motion and extended discussion but does not include a recorded roll-call or final vote tally.

Ordinance 101-16, as introduced, would instruct the mayor to execute a demolition contract; the meeting record in the transcript does not show whether the council completed a formal vote or the contract’s final terms.

If approved, the demolition would remove a structure council members described as a safety hazard and open a downtown parcel council members said they expect could be redeveloped. Residents and former theater employees urged the council to consider the site’s history as plans move forward.