Stoughton Opera House, Former City Hall

The Stoughton Opera House first opened on February 22, 1901 to the comedy The Doctor’s Warm Reception playing in the auditorium. However, the building opened as the city hall, not an opera house. The building’s facade reminds patrons of its history, reading “City Hall 1900 Library”. Mayor O.K. Roe and other city council members wanted the city hall to be more than just the site of the local government. They also wanted it to serve as the city’s cultural center, so they included an auditorium and space for the public library. Despite the words on the exterior declaring the building as both city hall and library, the Library Board found the new city hall’s basement insufficient for their needs and moved to their own building, funded by Andrew Carnegie, less than a decade later in 1908.

The historic city hall continued to serve the community for the next 50 years, hosting events from high school graduation ceremonies to political activist rallies. Its location on the main thoroughfare, right in the heart of the city’s center of commerce made it truly a community center.

However, half a century of Wisconsin weather took a toll on the building. The harsh Midwestern winters caused leaks in the roof, and the balcony was eventually declared unsafe. The building was closed to the public in the 1950’s and fell into further disrepair. The clock tower became hazardous and had to be removed in 1961.

In 1982, the city council made the decision to continue using the historic city hall as the center for local government. They began repairs, but would not use tax money to restore the clock tower or the auditorium. Stoughton citizens banded together and formed the “Friends of the Opera House” to raise the necessary funds, and the City Hall Restoration Committee was formed in 1983. Finally in 1988, after raising $105,000 in private donations, the clock tower was rebuilt. The opera house’s clock tower is iconic, and its likeness is used as a logo for the City of Stoughton.

The renovations didn’t and couldn’t stop there — according to fire codes, the building’s maximum occupancy was just 35 people. In 1990, an enclosed stairwell was added to bring the building up to current safety standards. Two years later, central heating and air conditioning were installed. Volunteers worked to make the balcony safe once again and construct modern dressing rooms. A grant of $332,500 from the Jeffris Family Foundation allowed the committee to add an elevator. It took just over a decade to restore the opera house’s former glory and bring it up to current safety and accessibility standards.

The Stoughton Opera House reopened in February 2001, exactly one hundred years after its first opening as the city hall. When it was built, it was one of the largest second story theatres in the Midwest, but few theatres like it survive today. It is a beautiful example of Romanesque Revival architecture from the turn of the century. Now outfitted with modern equipment, it’s a working theatre ready for performances and patrons.

History of the Library | Stoughton Public Library. Retrieved from the Stoughton Public Library. https://www.stoughtonpubliclibrary.org/history-library. (Accessed December 6, 2020.)

History — Stoughton Opera House. Retrieved from the Stoughton Opera House, http://www.stoughtonoperahouse.com/history. (Accessed December 6, 2020.)

Stoughton (Wisconsin) Opera House Renovation (Vertical File). Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://content.mpl.org/cdm/ref/collection/SPL/id/3597. (Accessed December 6, 2020.)

Wisconsin Historical Society, Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, “Stoughton City Hall, Library and Auditorium”, Stoughton, Dane, Wisconsin, 5892. Retrieved from the Wisconsin Historical Society, https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI5892. (Accessed December 6, 2020.)