In the 1990s, a story about a long legal battle at Bexley was picked up by media around the world. Even a few Jay Leno monologues made fun of what was happening here in Columbus.

In a nutshell, a building known to house an adult cinema and video store along the main street of Bexley was 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 for many years. Disgruntled residents sued the city over how it handled the fast food project.

The building, at 2484 E. Main St., hasn’t always been a place for adult films. When the theater opened in 1935, it received more than a dozen congratulatory telegrams from “Hollywood lights” interested in its new method of dual projection.

The pioneering system used mirrors to project a film simultaneously in two auditoriums. The theater also had a superior sound system, and its seats were 2 inches wider than any other seat in Columbus theaters, The Dispatch reported, with 2 inches more knee room.

In 1954 it opened as an “Art Film House”, featuring foreign films, and a newspaper advertisement described it as “a performance venue for discerning film buffs”. However, in the 1970s it started showing mainly adult films.

In 1987, members of local Word of Life ministries, viewing pornography as immoral, routinely picketed the operation in an attempt to bankrupt it. The city kept tabs on the theater, which was law-abiding and did not invite criminal activity, police said. Business continued there.

In the mid-1990s, the city made plans for the building to be sold to a developer and demolished. Some naysayers wanted to keep it for another use, and some worried about fast food smells, noise, and traffic safety.

After a nearly three-year legal battle ended in favor of the developer, the ground has been opened for the Big Macs to come to Bexley.

Shortly after, the building – which was built to look like an upscale restaurant rather than a typical McDonald’s – became home to a Chipotle Mexican Grill, which has been around for more than 20 years.

Contributor Linda Deitch was the Dispatch’s librarian for 25 years.