May 8, 2009
PIERRE, S.D. -- Historic preservation projects at Alcester, Hermosa, Lead, Mobridge, Turton, and Vermillion have received matching grants from the South Dakota State Historical Society, Gov. Mike Rounds announced today.
“This program is designed to encourage restoration or rehabilitation of historic properties,” said Gov. Rounds. “It is one more way we can promote and protect our history and culture for future generations.”
The grants are awarded through the South Dakota State Historical Society’s Deadwood Fund grant program. Funding for the effort comes from Deadwood gaming revenues that are earmarked by statute for historic preservation projects throughout the state. The program is administered by the State Historic Preservation Office in Pierre.
The latest round of projects to receive grants includes:
- Star School, Alcester vicinity, $15,000 for window repair
- Hermosa Masonic Lodge, Hermosa, $10,000 for foundation stabilization
- Homestake Opera House, Lead, $10,000 for restoration of the women’s lounge
- Scherr-Howe Auditorium, Mobridge, $15,000 for canopy and mural repair
- First Congregational Church, Turton, $11,393 for steeple restoration
- Washington Street Arts Center, Vermillion, $10,000 for window, gutter, and bell tower repairs
For more information on the South Dakota State Historical Society’s Deadwood Fund grant program, contact the State Historic Preservation Office at the Cultural Heritage Center, 900 Governors Drive, Pierre, S.D., 57501-2217; telephone (605) 773-3458; or Web site www.sdhistory.org/HP/histpres.htm
Opera House grant will restore women's lounge
ReplyDeleteBy Tim Velder, Lawrence County Journal staff | Wednesday, April 01, 2009
LEAD -- The city of Deadwood's Historic Preservation Commission has approved a $25,000 grant for the Historic Homestake Opera House this spring.
The money will complete restoration of the women’s lounge on the main floor of the opera house.
“This is one of the last steps in the restoration of the lobby area,” said Opera House director Jim O’Grady.
The opera house and adjoining recreation building were among several projects initiated by Phoebe Apperson Hearst, the wife of Homestake Mining Co.'s founder and developer, George Hearst. Homestake gave the building to the city of Lead in 1972, but a 1984 fire nearly destroyed the building. The Historic Homestake Opera House Society was formed in 1997 and has developed a restoration plan and program for the building.
Various federal grants have paid for major restoration projects.
Lobby floors and ceilings have been stabilized and rebuilt, theater and balcony floors replaced, box seats framed, projection booths stabilized, and the former basement-level swimming pool has been remodeled for a conference center.
The women’s lounge is a highly visible element of the opera house, and its restoration is a major piece of the overall restoration, O’Grady said. It was used during the corset era of women’s fashion for female patrons to take a break from their tightly-cinched undergarments. The room has a balcony and a restroom.
“The room’s windows and balcony are of critical importance, because the glass and frame are broken, subjecting the (building) to the rain, snow and weather,” O’Grady said.
Restoration of the lobby has been completed. However, the women’s lounge area was left undone because of a budget shortfall in 2006.
The lounge was part of a larger grant, but a lack of matching funds pulled that portion of the building off the restoration project.
A $25,000 State Historic Preservation Grant is pending and another $30,000 is being raised from private sources.
Opera House facts
The Opera House was built in 1914 at the urging of Phoebe Apperson Hearst, the wife of then-Homestake Mine owner George Hearst. Fuller says Phoebe Hearst wanted the citizens of Lead and the employees of her husband’s mine to have access to culture and recreation.
In addition to the 1,000-seat theater, the Opera House included a library, a swimming pool, a billiards room, a gym, a six-lane bowling alley, a fencing room and even a pistol range. Eventually, it also housed the YMCA.
On April 2, 1984, a fire erupted near the theater’s stage. The roof collapsed and the theater floor fell into the swimming pool.
Contractors placed a new roof over the building to prevent further damage, but nothing significant was done to the building until 1997, when the Opera House Society formed and began its renovation work.
The entire restoration project is estimated to cost about $7 million.
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