In the 1990s, a story about a protracted legal battle in Bexley was picked up by media outlets worldwide. Even a couple of Jay Leno’s monologues poked fun at what was going on right here in Columbus.
In a nutshell, a building known for housing an adult movie theater and video store along Bexley’s main drag was set to be demolished and a McDonald’s built in its place. The twist Leno capitalized on was that many neighbors objected to the idea of a McDonald’s in their area, even more so than the existence of an X-rated business there for many years. Unhappy residents took the city to court over how it handled the fast-food project.
The building, at 2484 E. Main St., wasn’t always a place for adult movies. When the theater opened in 1935, it received more than a dozen congratulatory telegrams from “Hollywood luminaries” interested in its new dual projection method.
The pioneering system used mirrors to project a film simultaneously to two auditoriums. The theater also had a superior sound system, and its seats were 2 inches wider than any other seats in Columbus theaters, The Dispatch reported, with 2 inches more “knee room” as well.
In 1954, it opened as an “Art Film House,” with foreign films, and a newspaper ad described it as “a show place for discriminating movie goers.” However, in the 1970s, it began to show mostly adult films.
In 1987, members of the local Word of Life Ministries, considering pornography to be immoral, regularly picketed in front of the operation in a bid to put it out of business. The city kept tabs on the theater, which was law-abiding and was not inviting criminal activity, police said. Business there continued.
