Brown Grand Opera House - Concordia, KS
Posted by: linkys
N 39° 34.286 W 097° 39.819
14S E 614782 N 4381044
This legacy of one of the wealthy early citizens of Concordia, is most certainly grand.
Waymark Code: WMEY60
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 07/21/2012
Views: 3
The Brown Grand was built in 1906-07 Napoleon Bonaparte Brown, a wealthy Concordia banker at a cost of $40,000. It was a brick and stone structure, 60 by 120 feet, with a 64 foot high roof, and containing the 57 x 34 foot stage. Its seating capacity was approximately 1000, with eight boxes, orchestra, balcony and gallery seating.
Its formal opening on September 17, 1907 was "The Vanderbilt Cup" featuring Joseph P. Gaites. While Mr. Brown and his son Earl took a personal interest in the Brown Grand, both were dead by 1911, and the Brown Grand never again attained the same prominence it had in those first few years.
By 1925 its fortunes had declined to the point it was sold to the Concordia Amusement Co., and was turned into a movie theater. Over the years it was remodeled and repainted, still it was given NRHP listing. In 1974 it showed its last movie, but through the efforts of local citizens it was saved and eventually restored to its former grandeur.
Source