116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Time Machine: Elkader Opera House
1903 building has had many uses, including stint as a fire station
Frank E. Long’s Stock Co. packed up after performing in Cresco on Aug. 14, 1901, and left for Elkader to perform “Peaceful Valley,” the first performance at the new Turner Hall opera house on Aug. 16.
The Turner opera house had a short life. A fire, caused by a defective furnace flue, leveled it Feb 5, 1903.
“The splendid system of waterworks was all that saved the business portion of the town from destruction,” The Gazette reported.
Damage was estimated at $8,000 (about $288,000 today). Insurance covered $4,900 ($176,340 today).
The fire left the community without a public hall, and the public response was immediate to build a new opera house. Among the fundraisers: an Oct. 1 carnival on the Elkader fairgrounds.
New opera house
The new Elkader Opera House cost $16,000 — about a half-million in today’s dollars — and was designed to seat 600 but “can be crowded to seat 800,” according to news reports.
It featured a ruby glass chandelier and a horseshoe balcony that was one of only two thought to exist in the United States at the time.
The grand opening, Nov. 27, 1903, was attended by about 750, 55 of whom came by special train from McGregor.
The opening show was “The Governor’s Son,” George M. Cohan’s first Broadway musical. It was a three-act comedy about guests at a country resort. Performing with Cohan were Helen, Jerry and Josephine Cohan, Ethel Levey and Ned Wayburn.
The opera house was part of the Chicago-Minneapolis vaudeville circuit and soon acquired the sobriquet, “Little Broadway.”
Multipurpose
During the Depression, the Elkader town council and city library moved into the opera house in August 1930. The original city hall was remodeled as a place for paving crews to stay of a construction camp.
In May 1938, Elkader held its first fish supper in the basement of the opera house. More than 260 guests filled five long tables and consumed 250 pounds of catfish, 40 loaves of bread, 25 pounds of butter, 10 gallons of ice cream and “enough coffee to float a battleship,” according the Postville Herald.
The building also housed a dance hall and a gymnasium where Golden Gloves boxing matches were held in the 1940s. The building also hosted many public meetings over the years.
One of those, the state soils districting committee, held a referendum at the opera house in April 1940.
In 1943, the theater was remodeled, with the city’s fire station on the first floor and the public library under the balcony.
1962 restoration
In 1962, the opera house underwent extensive restoration and renovation.
It started when a women’s club held a meeting in the building, and the members noticed the walls were darkened by smoke from the coal furnace. Plaster was hanging from the ceiling and the building was suffering from general deterioration.
Volunteers decided to restore the opera house as an opera house. The main floor and horseshoe balcony were painted white, silver, red and gold, accented with black and gold stencil trim. News clippings about the opera house were placed in ornate frames and hung on the walls.
An asbestos curtain displaying community advertising from 1903 was found in the attic, cleaned, restored and rehung on the stage. The large ruby chandelier that once graced the building was duplicated and rehung.
The playbills pasted on the back walls remained.
“The curtain will open on the nearly completed project Nov. 14 for the annual show of the Elkader Chapter of the Society for Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America,” The Gazette reported.
The barbershop chapter entertained with a 1903 program in honor of the restoration.
National Register
The restored opera house became the home for the Keystone Chorus barbershop chorus, the Fine Arts Council of Elkader and the Opera House Players.
The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The opera house underwent a $600,000 renovation beginning in 2001 and finishing in 2003, the building’s centennial year.
Money for the project came from donations, fundraising and a Vision Iowa Community Attraction and Tourism grant. A new grand staircase was added as well as a new sound system, a handicap-accessible entrance and restrooms, and a new stage curtain.
The opera house was rededicated Nov. 27 to 29, 2003. The Opera House Players performed “The Governor’s Son,” the house’s first production in 1903, in recognition of the anniversary.
The opera house still is going strong. Recent events included an October 2023 production of the musical “Peter Pan” and a Classic Christmas Fantasy concert by the Opera House Players in December.
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