Time Machine: Greene’s Opera House

CEDAR RAPIDS - Judge George Greene was one of Cedar Rapids' founders, an Iowa legislator and Iowa Supreme Court justice as well as an astute businessman. He decided late in his career to build a new opera house in downtown Cedar Rapids to replace the old Union Opera House.

One of the reasons for replacing the Union was its location on the third and fourth floors of its building, which was considered a dangerous fire hazard.

Greene began construction on his opera house in 1879 next door to the Union, which later was converted into a place for meetings and social events and was renamed Woodward Hall.

Greene's Opera House still was under construction when Greene died in June 1880. His son, Calvin, as executor of his father's estate, saw to it that the theater was completed and became its manager.

The still unfinished Greene's Opera House officially opened on Dec. 27, 1880, with a performance of 'The Bohemian Girl” by the Emma Abbott Grand English Opera Company. The house was full with nearly 2,000 patrons, who, according to reports, had to wear overcoats and gloves for the performance.

Calvin Greene took a risk scheduling the opening in midwinter with the building unfinished, but he felt obligated to fulfill his father's wish that the house be opened with a celebrated company. When he heard the Emma Abbott Company was receiving rave reviews and was highly sought, he hurried to Burlington where they were playing and booked them for the only dates they had available.

Greene's Opera House was hailed as one of the finest west of Chicago when, on Aug. 4, 1881, it was declared fully completed. The building on Second Street, between First and A Avenues, was 60 by 142 feet and four stories tall. The front was made of pressed red brick trimmed with Milwaukee brick, black brick, cut stone and ornamental tiling, crowned with an iron cornice.

The interior featured folding opera chairs, most of them upholstered, which accommodated 1,600 patrons, but the building's capacity was 2,200.

The original Greene Opera House did not seat its patrons on the first floor, either. Seats were on the second and third floors with Dalzell's restaurant on the first floor. First floor seating came when Henderson and Smith Company acquired and remodeled the theater in 1900.

There was an abundance of gas fixtures. In the center of the theater's dome was a large sun burner with 92 jets and one pilot which, when on, made the auditorium as light as day. In addition to this there were 850 gas jets throughout the building. The stage had an elegant gas chandelier, that could be raised and lowered as required.

Fire protection included seven sections of hose attached to water sources in various parts of the building, fireproof construction and 42 ways to exit. It was the only opera house west of Chicago that had a stage carpenter on the payroll.

Greene's Opera House hosted two or three shows each week for years, hosting great plays and renowned actors and actresses including Edwin Booth, Marie Dressler, Lillian Russell, Will Rogers, Al Jolson and Cedar Rapids' own Cherry Sisters. About 20 percent of the productions at Greene's were musical.

Greene's opened its 1885-86 season under the new management of Messrs. Noxon, Albert & Toomey.

It was highly regarded by acting troupes and performers. A 1904 edition of The Gazette noted 'theatrical people speak enthusiastically of Greene's and its elegant appointments. The 10 large dressing rooms, heated with steam, lighted by electricity and equipped with all modern conveniences, are hailed with joy by thespians who have ‘made up' in the refrigerators that by courtesy are called dressing rooms in the average theater.” And as the ultimate of elegance, it pointed out 'the ladies' dressing rooms are equipped with electric curling irons.”

After 1910, competition from motion picture houses contributed to the waning attraction of the small opera houses, which had a difficult time attracting top entertainment away from large metropolitan centers.

One of the last events at Greene's was a celebration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution.

An event planned by the Hawaiian School of Music at 701 Second Ave. East was left high and dry when Greene's abruptly closed in December 1921.

The theater 'formerly known as Greene's Opera House,” owned by four prominent but unidentified Cedar Rapids citizens, was extensively remodeled at a cost of $35,000 into a cinema house. That use wasn't profitable, and in 1934 it was remodeled again into a parking garage for the Roosevelt Hotel. It served that purpose for many years.

In 1968, George Miller Jr. stored automotive equipment and other materials in the aging building that had developed an ominous crack across its back wall. The city's urban renewal consultant, Shive, Hattery and Associates, recommended that it be demolished.

A 40-foot area in back of the building was fenced off in case the 50-foot wall fell. The council directed that the garage be the first building demolished as part of the city's civic center urban renewal project.

On March 22, 1969, workmen started razing the building The Gazette referred to as 'the grandfather of Cedar Rapids theaters, long retired,” starting with the back wall.