1900 - Pella Opera House - Pella, Iowa - Dated Buildings and Cornerstones on Waymarking.com

Date of Construction: 1900

The Pella Opera House at 611 Franklin Street is located in the central business district of Pella about one block east of the intersection of Main and Franklin Streets. The surrounding neighborhood is predominantly commercial with residential areas beginning about one block east and one block south. Most of the buildings around the opera house are late Nineteenth or early Twentieth Century edifices. Although there are also examples of so-called Dutch Fronts (historic commercial facades altered by 1970s and 1980s interpretations of historic Netherlands architectural details), the historic setting of the opera house remains mostly intact.

The opera house was completed in 1900 from designs by Pella architect Henry DeGooyer. The building has four stories and is attached on each side to other commercial buildings. As the only four story building in Pella, the opera house stands out although this is somewhat modified because the building is located within the interior of the block rather than on a corner. The building is constructed of brick, orange in color, and said to be locally manufactured. Other commercial buildings in Franklin Street also employ a similar material. Herman Rietveld, prime mover behind construction of the opera house, also managed a local brick and tile works in Pella giving further credence to the claim. The opera house has a flat roof slightly sloping front to rear. The facade faces north and consists of four bays with entryway located in the second bay from the west. The building is rectangular and originally measured approximately 38'xl20'. Architecturally the building shows the influence of Victorian Romanesque style.

The building rests on a stone foundation. The basement area is only partially excavated. The building consists of brick load bearing walls. The roof is flat and slopes slightly from north to south. It is visible only from the south otherwise being masked by parapets on the other elevations. There are no extant brick chimneys.

Fenestration is mostly 1/1 sash type windows except on the facade where the fenestration has more decorative treatment The west elevation has most of the building's fenestration after the facade. It is placed irregularly here and reflects internal uses of the building rather than for exterior effect.

All of the building's architectural detail is located on the facade. The four bays already mentioned are flanked by brick piers which protrude slightly from the facade and extend all the way to the fourth floor. The bays are each equally wide. On the first floor, however, the second bay from the west contains the main entryway and this cavity is somewhat wider than the other cavities on the first floor. Main entryway features a double door with transom above it. The other bays on the first floor feature paired 1/1 sash windows with arches above them worked in several courses of protruding brick. The ellipse between arch and sash feature leaded and stained glass windows original to the building. The second floor repeats the archwork noted on the first floor and also retains original stained glass windows in the ellipses although the 1/1 sash are single rather than paired windows as on the first and fourth floor. Third floor has round windows with brickwork surrounding them in designs similar to the first two floors. The leaded and stained glass windows on the third floor are replacements. This floor, also called the mezzanine floor, comprises the balcony area of the building's auditorium. The second floor of the building is the main floor of the auditorium. Fourth floor has paired 1/1 sash in each of the four bays with brick sills and brick lintels. Brick arches are also situated above these windows surmounted by a cornice also worked in brick. There is a metal pediment at the cornice,triangular in shape, and containing "1900 Opera Block." Polychrome is achieved on the facade through the use of orange and light colored brick. The orange brick predominates while the contrasting light colored brick is used in the arches above the windows on each floor. The stained glass carries the polychrome effect further.

The building illustrates a local interpretation of the Victorian Romanesque style. This is evident through the use of polychrome in building materials and the brick arches above windows and doors. The use of round windows is somewhat unusual. They appear to relate to similar usage in other buildings in Pella, such as the building at 826 Main Street, and in some earlier residential housing in the community, notably a brick house on the Oskaloosa Road (Highway 163) east of Pella.

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