A Pioneer Businessman Bet on an Opera House at Third and Union
W. S. Whitney bought adjoining lots and planned a two-story cement block with shops below and a dance hall and opera house above.
W. S. Whitney, who recently purchased the Miller property at the corner of Union avenue and Third street, has during the past week completed negotiations for the residence property of Mrs. Lyda Morrison, which adjoins the corner, giving him a frontage of 60 feet on Union avenue.
Mr. Whitney will early in the spring start the erection of a cement block building, using the double air space which will occupy the full frontage of 60 feet and be 80 feet deep, two stories in height. The lower story will be used for business purposes and the upper story will be designed for a dance hall and opera house. Newport has outgrown present accommodations in the opera house line and the proposed new building will fill the want.
The promoter of this proposition is one of the pioneer citizens of our town, one who has always had an abiding faith in the future of the town and will now again demonstrate this faith. He is the owner of considerable property in Newport and Spokane and will dispose of his Spokane holdings in order to make further investments here. Mr. Whitney conducted a general store business in Newport, Idaho, before the present town on the Washington side was platted. He has always been interested in the growth of the town and expects to continue to take an active part in its progress.
“Newport has outgrown present accommodations in the opera house line and the proposed new building will fill the want.”
The Whitney block was promoted as a sign that Newport had outgrown its old entertainment spaces and was ready for a downtown future. That booster faith in a single building is a familiar story in small Washington towns, where an opera house or theatre often stood at the center of civic identity.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.