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 In
1878, Eureka reached its peak in population, about 9,000 people. It was
a bustling city, there were dozens of saloons and gambling houses, several
opera houses, two breweries, five volunteer firefighting companies and
an assortment of doctors, merchants, bankers and other business people.
The Eureka Opera House
was built in the fall of 1880. It is a two-story structure with a brick
front. The rest of the building is constructed of sandstone, which is
quarried on the east side of Eureka. Carbonari who came to Eureka to make
charcoal had been stone masons by trade from the old country. This skill
shows in the quality of the workmanship in the building.
The outside of the
building is just like it was in 1880. Inside, the grand hall has a new
wood floor and looks like it did when it was first built. The balcony
is still the original. The stage has been shortened to add a stairwell
for access to the ground floor. The projection box in the balcony is new
but the theater seating is the same as that installed in the 1940s. Meeting
rooms have been built in the basement and an elevator was added for access.
The building is used as a convention facility for the county and is also
available for community use.
More
about the Eureka Opera House:
- At its peak in
1878, mining production in the Eureka area exceeded $5 million in gross
value. The smelters at that time were capable of processing over seven
hundred tons of lead, silver, gold, and zinc ore a day.
- The Opera house
was built on the remains of the old Odd Fellows Hall, which had been
destroyed by a fire in 1879.
- On a budget that
started as $1.3 million and a project that was slated to take 9 months,
the final tally was $2.5 million and 2 years.
 In
1994 Ana Covall nominated the building for a national trust national
historic preservation honor which it was awarded.- The grand opening
of the hall was celebrated on New Year's Eve 1880 with a masquerade
ball.
- The front of the
building was businesses. There was a general mercantile, a tailor, and
at one time a post office was located in the building
- Unique to the building
is the horseshoe balcony. It is one of only two left in the state. The
other one is in Piper's Opera House in Virginia City.
- A theater projection
booth was added when the hall was converted to a movie theater in the
1920s.
- In the late 1940s
permanent theater seating was installed in the grand hall, which had
previously been a dance floor and it became strictly a movie theater.
- Behind the balcony
is an apartment that was occupied until the county purchased the building
in 1990.
- The original curtain
burned in 1923. Its replacement is the one in use now and is in excellent
shape. The original oleo curtain was a canvas stretched on wood, it
was a scene of Venice. To replace it, they sold advertising, which was
painted on the curtain around the scene of Venice.
 Wally
Cuchine; Director, Convention Center:
"The roof was starting to go away and it was a situation where it
either had to be fixed or, once the roof was totally gone, the building
would start to fall down. There's one building in downtown on mainstreet
that way already. So everybody in the historical society was very interested
in seeing the building saved and through the 1980s they worked by starting
to raise money, talking to the people who owned the structure and the
historical society to build it and preserve it. By 1989, they got the
county commissioners interested, it was put on the ballot as a ballot
issue . . . the structure was then saved. . . . It all seems to become
very worthwhile in 1994 when Ana Covall nominated the building for a National
Trust National Historic Preservation Honor Award. We subsequently received
that award."
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