Pella Opera House

Pella, United States

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

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The Pella Opera House is a four-story brick Romanesque Revival structure in Pella, Iowa, designed by local architect Henry DeGooyer and completed in November 1900. Built with distinctive orange-colored bricks produced locally, the building was backed by businessman Herman Rietveld and the Pella Opera House Association, rising after a predecessor opera house burned in the late nineteenth century. DeGooyer modeled the design on the opera house in Sioux City. The building initially fulfilled its theatrical purpose for several years before hosting only sporadic performances until 1918, when it was converted to commercial use. After decades as a commercial space, the Pella Opera House Commission acquired the property in the 1980s and commissioned Des Moines architect Lawrence M. Erickson to oversee its rehabilitation back into a live entertainment venue, completed in 1990. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.