Fife Opera House
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Fife Opera House
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Front and side of the opera house
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| Location: | 123-125 S. Main St., Palestine, Illinois |
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| Coordinates: | 39°0′8″N 87°36′48″W / 39.00222°N 87.61333°WCoordinates: 39°0′8″N 87°36′48″W / 39.00222°N 87.61333°W |
| Area: | Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Architectural style: | Late 19th And Early 20th Century American Movements, Commercial Style |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 89002348[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | January 26, 1990 |
The Fife Opera House is a theater in Palestine, Illinois, in Crawford County. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been since January 26, 1990.
[edit] History
Construction at the David Fife Opera House started in 1898 and finished in 1901. In the building David Fife operated a hardware store on the ground floor. Upon completion the opera house seated several hundred in a building that measured 55 X 70 feet (21 m). The raked floor was filled with upholstered, red leather theater seats. Audiences were cooled by electric fans in summer and heat provided by a coal furnace kept them warm in cooler weather. The two original ceiling fixtures included a mirrored collar which reflected the glow of the high wattage light bulbs. At the west end of the building is the stage with a 25-foot (7.6 m) long opening and 15-foot (4.6 m) high, the stage is encircled by 25 lights.
A handpainted rolled canvas fire curtain was hand painted by artists from Sosman and Landes, a Chicago company. The curtain art shows a Venetian canal scene. Side and top panels along the stage depict draperies surrounding a tree-lined river. Recently, other painted scenes showing gardens, waterfalls and a turn of the century scene have been discovered in the building.[2] Fife's mother demanded that one of the building's five interior art panels, the one that featured cherubs, be painted over to cover their nakedness.[2]
It is said the lights all over Palestine dimmed when Fife threw the switches to the lights at the opera house on opening night.[2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ a b c A Brief History, Fife Opera House, Palestine Preservation Projects Society
[edit] External links
- Fife Opera House — Palestine Preservation Projects Society
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