Metropolitan Opera House

515 Washington Avenue,
Iowa Falls, IA 50126

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Metropolitan Opera House (Official)

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Fridley Theatres

Architects: Eugene S. Ellsworth, Didrik A. Omeyer, Martin P. Thori

Firms: Omeyer & Thori

Functions: Movies (First Run)

Styles: Italian Renaissance

Previous Names: Metropolitan Theatre

Phone Numbers: Box Office: 641.648.0099
Manager: 641.648.0099

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News About This Theater

Metropolitan Opera House

The Metropolitan Opera House opened as an 831-seat playhouse on December 27, 1899. Originally seating was provided for 441 in the orchestra and 390 in the balcony.

It was designed by Eugene S. Ellsworth of Iowa Falls. In recent years it became the Metropolitan Theatre and was operated by Fridley Theatres, but in the mid-2000’s was taken over by the BigTime Cinema chain. It re-opened under new ownership in 2013 as the Metropolitan Opera Hose.

Contributed by Bryan Krefft

Recent comments (view all 9 comments)

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on October 12, 2008 at 7:30 pm

There is a small photo of the Met on this site:
http://tinyurl.com/4qp59w

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on October 12, 2008 at 8:19 pm

The additional information notes style is Italian Renaissance.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 29, 2011 at 1:14 am

This appears to be the correct spelling of the name of one of the architects of this theater: Didrik A. Omeyer. Somehow the NRHP document slipped an inapposite apostrophe into his surname. He was apparently of Norwegian ancestry, not Irish, and so was his partner Martin P. Thori. Their firm was located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Chris1982
Chris1982 on November 16, 2014 at 8:34 am

The Mertropolitan Opera House has been independently operated since 2013. It is no longer operated by Fridley Theatres. They now go by The Metropolitan Opera House. Theyt show first run attractions. Website

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on October 30, 2018 at 12:47 am

Early 1900s photo added via the I grew up in Hardin County, Iowa Facebook page.

SethG
SethG on December 28, 2023 at 7:25 pm

Typo in the listing, ‘Hose’. The ‘in recent years’ is a bit vague and confusing, and no longer accurate. Seems to have maybe taken place in the 1990s? The history on the theater website is not terribly clear.

SethG
SethG on December 28, 2023 at 7:32 pm

Was renamed the ‘Met’ by around 1944, when the lobby was redone, and a new marquee added. That still existed when the building was listed in 1975.

SethG
SethG on December 28, 2023 at 7:36 pm

1902 Sanborn calls this the Metropolitan Opera House, but 1911 and later show it as the Metropolitan Theatre. If Fridley had anything to do with that name, it was a renaming after many years as the Met.

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