COLUMBIANA, Ohio – Main Street Theater in Columbiana will get a new name as part of a rebranding effort by its new owners.
The landmark venue on the town circle will become Columbiana Arts Theater – or CAT – before the start of the fall season.
The theater will continue to present family friendly concerts, stage plays, films and other entertainment, says Bob Bachinger, who has been named the overseer of the venue. Lectures, speakers and other such events will also be added to the lineup.
A new website will go live in coming weeks with information about all events. The theater’s new logo will be unveiled in the near future, and new signage is being considered for the exterior of the building.
The theater was purchased in April for $850,000 by SP Co., parent company of Columbiana-based Compco and Roman Bradford Corp. The previous owners were John and Beth Kufleitner, acting as Ronjon Investment V.
Bachinger is vice president of safety and training of Compco, a maker of tank heads and stamped metal parts.
“I will oversee daily operations but not so much manage them,” he says.
Before the sale, the theater was operated on a daily basis by Columbiana Cultural Collective, an organization created to keep the theater from closing. Its original goal was to eventually buy the theater, although that is no longer the case.
Erich Offenburg, executive director of the CCC, has been hired by Compco as manager of day-to-day operations.
“We brought [Offenburg] on board when we bought the building,” Bachinger says. “He has a wealth of knowledge.”
The theater is in the process of figuring out how booking will be done. Shows that the CCC had already scheduled will go on as planned. But in the future the group will have to rent the venue if it wants to book a show.
Nicole Price, chairman of the CCC board, says the organization intends to move away from promoting shows and instead become more like a foundation that provides arts scholarships.
One organization that will continue is Squeaky Wheel Theater Company, which produces plays and musicals and is known for working with children and special needs individuals. Squeaky Wheel, which is directed by Offenburg, will continue to call the theater its home.
“He is amazing when it comes to working with kids and also does special needs work, which is intriguing to us,” Bachinger says.
Squeaky Wheel plans to present “Young Frankenstein,” the Mel Brooks musical comedy, in October. The company is working on another as-yet unnamed show this fall and will follow it with a Christmas show.
Earlier this summer, Squeaky Wheel presented the Shakespearean musical comedy “Something Rotten.”
A children’s production of Disney’s “Finding Nemo” was presented the weekend of July 26-28. “The cast is all kids ages 6 to 12,” Offenburg says. “Its cuteness is off the charts.”
Squeaky Wheel also is the middle of its summer youth theater camp, which takes place every weekday morning and has 45 students.
In recent years, Main Street Theater has become a place where locally made films get their premieres, and that will continue. “We have a lot of film culture here,” Offenburg says. “We’re working out the details on that now.”
BUSINESS LEANINGS
Bachinger, a 44-year Compco veteran, has worked his way up the company ladder, serving as a foreman, quality manager and IT manager.
He will put his managerial skills to use at the theater.
“I’ve never been a venue manager, but I love training people,” he says. “It’s one of the things I discovered during my tenure at Compco.”
Bachinger does have experience in putting on large events.
“Compco has [presented] the TEDx Youngstown events for the last five years, and I pretty much produced them,” he says. “So, I’m familiar with how to produce a show.”
If Compco presents the next TEDx, it will likely take place at Columbiana Arts Theater, Bachinger says. Previous TEDx events took place at the DeYor Performing Arts Center and at Spotlight Theater at Youngstown State University.
The new ownership team has also appointed Katy Mumaw as marketing and social media director.
In addition to his responsibilities at Compco, Bachinger is also chairman of the Columbiana Educational Service Center’s business advisory committee, where he acts as a liaison between businesses and educators.
He points out that Compco has always been a family company and community oriented.
“We are active participants in the community,” he says. “When this theater became available, we knew that it was something that would be right up our alley.”
Toward that end, the company will add educational workshops, classes and other personal growth events to its mix.
It has already scheduled a Sept. 26 business symposium on artificial intelligence that will feature local speakers with expertise in the field.
Pictured at top: Robert “Bob” Bachinger in front of the marquee at Main Street Theater in Columbiana.