History found in articles on the history of the  Salem Theater Dayton Ohio. The following year the theater was leased by Stravos T. Vradelis. After closing for a short while for remodeling, he reopened the theater under the name of the New Salem on July 2, 1954. The theater now offered air-conditioning, new seats and decorations and was equipped with a new wide screen for showing Cinema-Scope films.
     Part of the reason the old theater had been in a run down condition when it closed was due to vandalism, which could sometimes run as much as $3000 a year in repairs. As part of an effort to try and alleviate this problem, Vradelis started out by studying the history of the theater, since it was something new to him, and wrote to motion picture executives all over the country. Before long he developed a program that reduced vandalism in his theater to less than $50 a year. To achieve this he did such things as give short lectures to the children urging them not to put their feet on the backs of chairs, slash the seats or mark up the walls of the theater. In return he rewarded them by running special shows on Saturday mornings, added a special matinee on Wednesdays during the summer, and gave them a free Christmas show every year. This plan worked so well that Vradelis received attention from both the Colonel White school and the Independent Theater Owners of Ohio.
         Even though the theater was still somewhat successful, the doors to the New Salem were closed in November 1963. Vradelis, 69 years old, decided to give up the theater, saying that he wanted to rest up a bit. The last offering of the theater was  Stop, You're Killing Me.