The Palace of the Drama Rises from the Ashes
After the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 destroyed the old Opera House, the city finally secures a world-class theater built entirely with local capital and zero debt.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Since the great fire of June 6, 1889, destroyed Frye's Opera House, one effort after another has been made to organize a company to replace it. It has remained for the Seattle Theater Company to complete a building which will take the first place among the palaces of the drama on the Coast. It is due primarily to the energy of George H. Heilbron that the project succeeded. Along with J. D. Lowman, he secured the northeast corner of Third and Cherry Streets. They incorporated the company in April 1892. All capital stock was paid in cash, and the building will be opened without a dollar of borrowed money. The theater, designed by architect Charles W. Saunders, is an Italian Renaissance structure built of buff pressed brick and Chuckanut stone. The stage is considered one of the best appointed in the world, featuring 900 electric lights and a drop curtain depicting a Venetian carnival. Management has been turned over to John W. Hanna, who will ensure a constant succession of attractions.
“This event in the history of the rebuilding of the city will be more welcome to the whole people than the opening of the new theater which will be celebrated tomorrow night.”
The Seattle Theater mentioned here stood at 3rd and Cherry, a site that has seen successive waves of development in downtown Seattle. The pride taken in building a debt-free cultural landmark reflects a recurring tension in Seattle history: the struggle to secure permanent public amenities in a city defined by its rapid, often speculative, growth cycles.
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