Chicago Opera House

Chicago, United States

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

The Chicago Opera House was a theater complex in Chicago designed by Cobb and Frost and completed in 1885, taking the mixed-use approach pioneered by New York's Metropolitan Opera by combining a central theater with flanking office structures to offset construction costs. Located at the southwest corner of West Washington Avenue and North Clark Street, the complex opened publicly on August 18, 1885, with a production of *Hamlet* starring Thomas W. Keene. Between 1887 and 1890, the building served as Chicago's official National Weather Service observation station. Though damaged by fire in December 1888, the theater was repaired and continued operating as a venue for successful musicals including *Sinbad* and *The Arabian Nights*. The building's final performance was Paul Armstrong's *The Escape* before demolition began in May 1913; the site was subsequently occupied by the Burnham Center, completed in 1915.

Architect

Cobb and Frost

Built: 1885
Type: opera house
Place: Chicago, United States

This building on

Architecturally similar

Location

41.88300, -87.63130