Woods Opera House
602 Washington Avenue,
Bay City,
MI
48708
602 Washington Avenue,
Bay City,
MI
48708
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The Woods Opera House opened its doors on September 17, 1886, and was also a replacement of an earlier opera house that got destroyed by a fire nine months beforehand, called the Westover Opera House located between Center Avenue and Washington Avenue.
Although there’s not a lot of information about the nearby Westover, the Westover Opera House was destroyed by a fire on January 17, 1886. According to a May 1976 article released by the Bay City Times, the Westover was already closed for more than a month when the fire happened. Everything from the Westover before the fire moved to a nearby roller rink (including its scenery). The original Westover was designed by notable theatrical architect J.M. Wood of Chicago, who also helped design the Woods Opera House as well.
On August 29, 1902, the Woods Opera House was swept by flames after the last performance of “The Tide Of Life”, killing a 22-year-old man named Eugene Zaremba when a section of the wall collapsed and buried him, costing a total of $113,000 in destruction and damages. The Washington Theater was immediately built on the site, and opened the following year, which have its own Cinema Treasures page.
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50sSNIPES
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
The reason why the nearby Westover Opera House, named after William Westover, closed in late-1885 is because of Westover being concerned that a fire would result in a loss of life, which it did happen as mentioned.
The Westover, which operated from 1869 until 1885 (1886 fire), will have its own CT page soon.