Features
Cleveland Preservationist Dies
Ray Shepardson, 70, a preservationist who is credited with saving Cleveland’s Playhouse Square theaters as well as Sioux City’s Orpheum Theatre in Iowa, died April 14 in Wheaton, Ill.
Photo: AP Photo / Cleveland Plain Dealer
photo reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer
Shepardson reportedly got involved in preservation while searching for a space to hold meetings as an employee of the Cleveland Board of Education.
He came across the shuttered theaters and the rest is history.
He also found success as a consultant on projects across the country, helping to restore and reuse movie palaces for live music and Broadway shows in cities including Los Angeles, Detroit, Dallas and Minneapolis, among others.