Ganiard Opera House - Ashland, OR
N 42° 11.806 W 122° 42.827
10T E 523630 N 4671663
This historic building is currently home to Three Penny Mercantile and located on the corner of N Pioneer and E Main Streets in downtown Ashland, OR.
Waymark Code: WMKCAV
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 03/18/2014
Views: 3
The Ganiard Opera House, located on the corner of N Pioneer and E Main Streets was originally erected in 1889 as a three-story building made of local sandstone and brick. Unfortunately, a severe fire in 1912 all but destroyed the building. The structure was rebuilt, but as a one-story building and has remained this way ever since. The only identifiable parts of the original building are the sandstone columns at the corner and sides of the building. This building is a contributing structure as part of the Ashland Downtown Historic District. The following text comes from the NRHP Nomination Form to describe the history of this building and reads:
The Ganiard Opera House, erected in 1889 by Oscar Ganiard, an important local land owner and member of a pioneer family, was originally a substantial three-story brick building. "The Ganiard Block is an old landmark, being one of the first brick structures in Ashland." (Tidings, 8-Aug-1912, 1:3-4) the building had cut sandstone columns at street level, framing both the corner entry and the primary entrance on Main Street, centered under a 2 1/2 story arched stairwell opening that led to large theater and the office spaces of the upper floors. In 1912 the building was seriously damaged in a spectacular fire. Following the fire, the severely damaged building was immediately condemned by the city's Fire and Water Committee. "It is understood the report will recommend that the upper two stories be torn down, they being considered unsafe by the committee. It will be remembered that this block was condemned some time ago but the walls were bolstered up and the building was allowed to be used." (Tidings, 8-August-1912, 1:2) By the end ot the month, the damaged building was sold to E. E. Estes for $13,500, who announced a plan to rebuild. "Mr. Estes is today engaged in tearing down the chimneys and other menacing parts of the old structure [in preparation] to the erection on the lot of a modern two-story structure for stores and offices." (Tidings, 29-Aug 1:1) For unknown reasons, Estes' plans failed to materialize and eventually the remaining first floor elements of the Ganiard Opera House were rebuilt and used for various retail and professional spaces. In the late 1940s the site was occupied by the Greyhound bus terminal and an electric shop and the 1964 Polk City directory lists Western Auto at the corner-facing space. A series of financial institutions were located here from the 1970s through the early 1990s when the building underwent a renovation that opened up the basement area and created a series of small storefronts along the Pioneer Street elevation.
Constituting only a portion of the original 1889 Opera House volume, the present single-story building retains some elements of its pre-1912 exterior, notably the large sandstone engaged columns that flank the primary entry way. However other elements of the exterior and much of the strofront design, with day-lighted basement windows bear little connection to the building's original development and obscure its history.