The History of the Marion Cultural & Civic Center and WBVN

The Marion Cultural and Civic Center is located in the southwest corner of the Tower Square Plaza in the City of Marion. The original building was built as a movie theater and vaudeville showplace.

Construction began early in 1919, and it opened its doors to the public on January 2, 1922. At that time it was a vaudeville/movie house known as the Orpheum Playhouse. It was the latest in design and theatrical equipment and could seat 1500 people.  Some of the leading stars of that era made appearances on its stage: Harry Houdini, Tom Mix and His Wonder Horse, The Ziegfield Follies, Anna Case, star soprano of the Metropolitan Opera, Bebe Daniels, and the doll of the stage, Barbara Bronell, who appeared in “Listen To Me” and “The Broadway Jingles.”

The first improvements to be made to the playhouse were in 1927. With the innovation of the “talkies,” $10,000 worth of sound reproducing equipment was purchased and installed to show the first talking movie, The Jazz Singer, featuring Al Jolson.

The loss of attendance and revenue, along with the increasing high cost of maintenance, forced the playhouse to close its doors in 1971. For the next few years the building lay idle and deteriorating. But in 1973 the City of Marion purchased the building and property for a modest sum of $11,000. No firm decision was made as to what the city would do with the property. Several ideas were suggested, but a new concept came about during this period —the civic center, a multi-purpose building that could be used for all types of entertainment, town meetings, forums and conventions was created.

The city council made a decision to hire a local contractor to make an evaluation of the building and to submit an estimated cost of repairs for their consideration. The contractor found this building to be structurally sound, but in need of a tremendous amount of repair before it would be safe for public use. Once the evaluation and estimates were received by the city council, a decision was made to appropriate $140,000 toward the renovation.

On May 9, 1975, Mayor Butler cut the ribbon at the grand-opening. Will Rogers, Jr., was the featured artist of the evening.

Since it re-opened its doors in 1975, two former presidents, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, have appeared on its stage. Music and television stars Red Skelton, Mickey Rooney, Donald O’Connor, and Gordon MacRae, along with country music stars Randy Travis and Mel Tellis, and the outstanding piano virtuoso, Van Cliburn, have adorned its stage. Some big name bands famous during the 40s and 50s-Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, Guy Lombardo and Doc Severinson-have made several appearances at the center.

WBVN has been a frequent patron of the Marion Cultural and Civic Center, enjoying the use of this venue to bring Contemporary Christian artists to Southern Illinois. The last WBVN concert in the old civic center was CCM artist Michael O’Brien on Friday, March 7, 1997. Three days later the 75-year-old civic center burned down.  After producing concerts in various locations including SIU’s Shryock Auditorium, the SIU Arena, Rend Lake College, Southeastern Illinois College, and frequently in the John A. Logan Auditorium, we finally established a series of concerts at the Aldersgate Methodist Church, near the original WBVN studios located in the warehouse at Sherlock Holmes Mobile Homes east of Marion.

In 2004 the New Marion Cultural and Civic Center was opened and we began a long run of concerts again at the original location of many of our early concert series.  Our first concert in the rebuilt civic center was Mark Schultz on July 17, 2004 to a sold-out crowd.  We would on May 6^th, 2005, host the filming of Mark’s DVD, A Night of Stories and Songs.  We filmed two separate concerts with over 1800 people in attendance for a matinee and evening event.

Current statistics:

First Sell-out was Phillips Craig and Dean in 1993

The most appearances as of December 2024 has been NewSong (27) beginning in 1996.

Mark Schultz (22) since 2001 and Big Daddy Weave (21) since 2002

The following is a Historical List of WBVN’s Concert Series…Thank you all that have shared these nights with us and helped make the Series a successful outreach of this radio station.  Concerts have played a major role in what we believe this ministry is supposed to be doing for our listeners and their friends and families.