Wheeler Opera House - Aspen, CO - Colorado Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The plaque reads:

Wheeler Opera House

The Wheeler Opera House was built in 1889 at a cost of $80,000 and was one of the finest opera houses in Colorado, second only to the Tabor Grand in Denver. Originally, the building housed the J.B. Wheeler Bank on the first floor. From 1916 to 1965 the ground floor space on Mill Street housed Beck and Bishop's Grocery Store. The 1912 the building survived two fires. The first fire was easily extinguished, but the second, nine days later, caused substantial damage. Arson was suspected but never proven. Although used as a makeshift multi-purpose building for a period after the fires, the first two floors were used for various businesses, but the opera house was not fully operational until Walter Paepcke, Herbert Bayer and other renovated it in 1949 and again in 1956. The renovation deviated from the original Victorian design, but the building was usable once again. In the early 1980s, the exterior of the building was restored and photographs of the interior were used to return the third floor theater to its more original character.

"Financed by Jerome B. Wheeler, construction of the massive three-story commercial building located on a prominent downtown corner began in 1888 and was completed in 1898. Designed by early Denver architect Willoughby J. Edbrooke, utilizing a mix of Romanesque and Italianate style architectural elements, the primarily hipped roof building has walls of peachblow sandstone. Rounded arches define window and door openings on the first and third levels. Retail spaces were located on the first floor, professional offices were on the second, and the Opera House occupied the entire third floor. A fire gutted the third floor in 1912, and it remained closed off until 1947 when the upper two floors were leased to the Aspen Company." (from (visit link) )

The NRHP form may be found at (visit link) .

A thorough history of the Wheeler Opera House may be found at (visit link) .

Group or Groups Responsible for Placement: City of Aspen County or City: Pitkin Date Dedicated: Unknown Check here for Web link(s) for additional information: Not listed

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