City Opera House

A group of Traverse City businessmen, urged on by their wives, partnered in 1891 to build an opera house. The partners chose Pontiac architect Edward R. Prall to built the three-story, brick building. The opera house opened to the public in February 1892, and featured a 1,200-seat auditorium that hosted lectures, concerts, plays, vaudeville performances, dinners, dances and balls, and high school commencement exercises. It was also the first commercial building in Traverse City to be equipped with electric lighting.

The City Opera House was eventually converted to use as a movie house, but in 1920, was leased by another movie operator and shut down in order to eliminate competition. It sat largely unused for several decades.

In 1980, the Votruba family, owners of the building and descendants of one of the original owners, donated the structure to the City of Traverse City. Anticipating this development, the City Opera House Heritage Association was formed in 1979 by local citizens who were committed to restoring and reopening the venue. Thanks to their fundraising efforts, the building went through a multi-phase restoration led by Quinn Evans Architects. The building reopened in 1986 with restoration partially complete, allowing for the space to once again be a center of cultural life even as restoration efforts continued. In 2009, MSU's Wharton Center for the Performing Arts was granted a contract to operate the City Opera House.

A wide range of entertainment in offered in the historic space and it is also available for rental for private events. The building was designated a Michigan Historic Site in 1971 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

"Asbestos Stage Scenery Will Be Used in the City Opera House When it is Remodeled," Traverse City Record-Eagle, September 10, 1897, p.2.

Barnes, Al. "Opera Houses Were Bright Spots in Traverse City History," Traverse City Record-Eagle, February 7, 1966, p.20.

National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, City Opera House, Traverse City Michigan, listed 7 September 1972.

Godwin, Mary. "City Opera House—A Ghostly Treasure," Traverse City Record-Eagle, June 6, 1975, p.21.

McWhirter, Sheri. "City Opera House: Wharton Center to Take Reins," Traverse City Record-Eagle, December 8, 2009, p.1.

Perry, Deb. "A Return to Opulence and Relevance," Michigan History, 99:5 (September-October 2015), p15+.

Drahos, Marta Hepler. "'Grand Old Lady' Turns 125," Traverse City Record-Eagle, February 3, 2017, p.17.

Boissoneau, Rich. "No Opera In the House: The Varied History of Traverse City's City Opera House," The Ticker [www.traverseticker.com], January 5, 2020.