The Chicago Opera House, (constructed in 1884–5) was a theater complex in Chicago, Illinois, USA, designed by the architectural firm of Cobb and Frost

Cobb and Frost

Cobb and Frost was an American architectural firm. Cobb and Frost was founded in Chicago, Illinois by Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Sumner Frost in 1882. The firm was dissolved in 1889 when Cobb began work on designing the Newberry Library...

. The Chicago Opera House building took the cue provided by the Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

 of New York as a mixed-used building: it housed both a theater and unrelated offices, used to subsidize the cost of the theater building. The theater itself was located in the middle of the complex and office structures flanked each side. The entire complex was known as the "Chicago Opera House Block," and was located at the Southwest corner of W. Washington Ave. and N. Clark St.

The Chicago Opera House was opened to the public on August 18, 1885. The first performance in the new theater was of Hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

starring Thomas W. Keene. From 1887 to 1890, the Chicago Opera House served as the official observation location for recording the climate of the city of Chicago by the National Weather Service

National Weather Service

The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...

.

The theater suffered a fire in December 1888, which mainly damaged portions of the roof. However, the roof was repaired, and most of the exterior of the building remained undamaged. During its existence, the Chicago Opera House was the site of the premiere of several successful musicals such as Sinbad

Sinbad (1891 musical)

Sinbad or The Maid of Balsora is a musical with music composed by W. H. Batchelor and a book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith.The original production opened on June 11, 1891 in Chicago and starred Eddie Foy...

and The Arabian Nights.

The Chicago Opera House was demolished in 1912. The site is currently occupied by the Burnham Center (formerly known as the Conway Building), completed in 1915.

Construction

The idea for the Chicago Opera House came from Scottish-born newspaperman and financier David Henderson. Henderson "planned the scheme and the stock— 550,000— was subscribed in six weeks. Thus Chicago had the first fireproof, steel constructed, electric lighted theatre in the country." The construction of the Chicago Opera House was one of the earliest examples of general contracting

General contractor

A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...

, run by George A. Fuller

George A. Fuller

George A. Fuller was an architect often credited as being the "inventor" of modern skyscrapers and the modern contracting system.-Early life and career:Fuller was born in Templeton, Massachusetts, near Worcester...

. Upon completion, the masonry

Masonry

Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...

-clad building was 10 stories and 140 feet tall.