Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
ATHENAEUM
ATHENAEUM. The Athenaeum was constructed in 1840 by James Marshall EMERSON and James Crider. (1) It was located on the second floor of a building constructed in 1833 by John G. SHIELDS and J. Hannibal EMERSON, the father and uncle of James H. SHIELDS who used the lower story as a store. (2) The theater had a single balcony and only two box seats located so close to the stage to make it impossible to see well from either. The seating arrangement was unique. The rows of seats followed around the parquet rail so that a person sitting on the extreme ends of the rows faced a side wall instead of the stage. In 1846 the building was renovated, enlarged, and called the CITY HOTEL by Richard Plumbe. The business was purchased by a Henry Miller, Charley Hewitt, a Mr. Tomkins, and after the CIVIL WAR by a Mr. Bellfield.
In October 1876 the property was purchased for $28,000 by Charles H. EIGHMEY and John Robert WALLER, Sr.. An article in the Dubuque Herald stated that it was the intention of the owners to renovate the interior of the building for an opera house. (3)
The "old rat trap" as it was called at the time was carefully studied. Architects from Chicago concluded the building could be renovated. The owners proposed to do this, at an estimated cost from $10,000 to $20,000 if the citizens of Dubuque would purchase one thousand tickets at $5.00 each. (4)
The renovation occurred in 1877.
See: DUNCAN-WALLER OPERA HOUSE
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Source:
1. Oldt, Franklin T. and Patrick J. Quigley, History of Dubuque County, Iowa Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1890, p. 51
2. "Mirth and Music," Dubuque Herald, December 28, 1877, p. 4. Online:https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18771229&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
3. "Prospect of An Opera House," Dubuque Herald, October 15, 1876, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18761015&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
4. "Rejoice," Dubuque Herald, May 6, 1877, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=uh8FjILnQOkC&dat=18770506&printsec=frontpage&hl=en