March 17, 2004
Opera House opens doors
Public gets sneak peek at $8 million, multi-year renovation
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
The City Opera House threw open its doors to the public this weekend, a combined get reacquainted and thank you event. The 110-year-old building, the grandam of downtown, is in the midst of an $8 million, multi-year renovation.
"We wanted to give the community a sneak peek and we did so and got great response," said Gerie Greenspan, executive director of the City Opera House Heritage Association.
The weekend kicked off with a donor thank you party Friday evening featuring a dress rehearsal of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra's Schubert and Mozart concert scheduled for Saturday. The next day, the City Opera House welcomed a variety of musicians and writers for an all-day benefit. Performers included Mary Ann Rivers, Kat Burke, Keyboard and Plastic Duck and the Sweet Adelines as well as area authors including Gloria Whelan and Patty LaNoue Stearns.
Sunday, the City Opera House drew families throughout the afternoon for a Family Day open house that featured tours, a puppet show by New Kids on the Block, crafts by the Great Lakes Children's Museum and snacks. Attendees also browsed tables containing historical information on the City Opera House's previous renovations and checked out the new kitchen, backstage and rear entrance facilities.
The newly restored ceiling and dome glowed and the restored floors and stage in the main hall gleamed warmly, enticing visitors to linger.
"It's beautiful, really beautiful," said Leslie Chinn of Traverse City, who attended the event with her daughter, Nellya, 4 «. "I'm glad we can see the ceiling again."
"I was born and raised in Traverse City and have been down here for quite a few productions," she added.
Mari Liggett of Traverse City had never been in the building before, even though her husband's company, Kamarca, restored the floors and stage. Liggett and their four children enjoyed an afternoon exploring and playing, discovering a new family venue.
"Oh, my gosh, it's beautiful here," said Mari Liggett, who had intended on just taking a quick look at her husband's work but was captivated and decided to stay the afternoon. "I had no idea there was going to be all this children's interaction with the puppets and the crafts."
The Family Day was meant to sow the seeds of stewardship for the historical building into the next generation and beyond.
"The family day allows the community, and even a younger generation of the community, to come in and envision children's programming happening inside this space," Greenspan noted, adding the organization already had a named gift for an as-yet unscheduled children's series: 5/3 Bank.
After the weekend activities, the City Opera House again closed its doors to the public for the second sequence of its restoration. This phase has an ambitious eight-month, $800,000 plan that includes fully enlarging the second floor mezzanine lobby, rebuilding the substructure of the balcony, relocating patron restrooms and restoring the exterior fa‡ade along Front Street.
In addition, this phase includes adding sprinklers to all four floors of the adjoining building 106 Front Street building and connecting the air condition to the lobby area.
The full renovation is scheduled for completion in 2006, with 730 seats available when completed by the end of that year.
The City Opera House will be open along the way, including a planned almost two-year span beginning this fall. For that duration, the facility will be available for a variety of programming and bookings and will have a capacity of 450 seats.
"We're working on a programming mix that reflects the best practices of historic theaters around the country," Greenspan noted. "We are crushed by calls every week from people wanting to use the Opera House and have been taking an active waiting list for a year and a half."