The Reed Opera House and McCornack Block Addition, more commonly known as The Reed Opera House or The Reed, is a historic building in downtown Salem,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

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. Since its grand opening on September 27, 1870, the Reed Opera House has served as a performing arts center and shopping mall. The

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

structure was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1978.Oregon: Marion County.
NationalRegisterofHistoricPlaces.com. Retrieved on April 23, 2008.

Early history

Construction on the Reed Opera House began in 1869 and was completed in 1870 with G. W. Rhodes as the architect.Cowan, Ron. Reed Opera house. ''

Statesman Journal The ''Statesman Journal'' is the major daily newspaper published in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1851 as the ''Oregon Statesman'', it later merged with the ''Capital Journal'' to form the current newspaper, the second-oldest in Orego ...

'', April 2, 2006. The

opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

was built by Cyrus Adams Reed under a contract with the State of Oregon to provide space for the

Oregon State Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the State legislature (United States), state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper house, upper and lower chamber: the Oregon State Senate, Sena ...

, the

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, and the

Oregon State Library The State Library of Oregon in Salem, is the library for the U.S. state of Oregon. The mission of the State Library of Oregon is to provide leadership and resources to continue growing vibrant library services for Oregonians with print disabil ...

. During construction, however, Oregon elected officials decided not to comply with the previous administration's contract. Since the building was already close to completion, Reed made some changes to the plan and had seven shops included on the ground floor, an opera house on the second and third floors, and a hotel in the unused space. The Reed Opera House officially opened with the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

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for Oregon Governor La Fayette Grover. It quickly became the center of Salem's entertainment and social life, playing host to touring plays, opera companies, political meetings, and community events. A number of notable performers made appearances, including local celebrity Hallie Parrish Hinges, artist/political cartoonist

Thomas Nast Thomas Nast (; ; September 26, 1840December 7, 1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was a sharp critic of William M. Tweed, "Boss" Tweed and the T ...

, Susan B. Anthony,

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

, presidents

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was the 19th president of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881. Hayes served as Cincinnati's city solicitor from 1858 to 1861. He was a staunch Abolitionism in the Un ...

and

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

and

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( , ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era known primarily for American military March (music), marches. He is known as "The March King" or th ...

's band. On April 20, 1900, the Reed Opera House theater officially closed. This was due to the nearby construction of the Grand Theater, which had more modern amenities and a ground floor entrance. Soon afterwards, Joseph Meyers and Sons, who leased the property from E.P. McCornack, and who had purchased Reed's interest in the building in 1885, converted the theater and the majority of the retail space into a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

. In 1902, McCornack added a two-story building to the Reed Opera House in order to house a furniture store. In 1920, both buildings were purchased and occupied by Miller's Department Store.

Recent history

Miller's Department Store continued to occupy the buildings until 1976. At that time, the buildings were purchased by realtor Coburn Grabenhorst Sr. and architects Phil Settecase and Howard Smith. At the cost of

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$1,000,000, the buildings were updated to assume their present configuration. The new layout of the Reed included a number of retail boutiques and restaurants on the lower level, first floor, mezzanine, and second floor. It prospered until a large mall was built nearby in the late 1980s. Because of ensuing financial difficulty, the deeds to the Reed Opera House and the McCornack addition were turned over to the bank that financed the

redevelopment Redevelopment is any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses. It represents a process of land development uses to revitalize the physical, economic and social fabric of urban space. Description Variations on redevelopment include ...

. In 1993, Bourne Properties purchased the deeds to the Reed Opera House. Roger Yost, a former marketing vice president of Jantzen Apparel, purchased the Reed Opera House from Bourne Properties in 2003. Since he gained ownership, he has undertaken a remodeling project to expand the building, as well as to restore some of its original features. He has remodeled what is now known as the Trinity Ballroom and the kitchen for $50,000 and modernized the elevators for $175,000. He replicated the rooftop

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

, corona, and architectural

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...

of the original building for $180,000, having won a $100,000 prize from a contest sponsored by Salem's Urban Renewal agency to assist with the restoration. In addition to remodeling, Yost added a number of vintage advertisements for his former employer, Jantzen Swimwear (as it was formerly known), throughout the public areas of the Reed.

References

External links

The Reed Opera House website
{{National Register of Historic Places Oregon 1870 establishments in Oregon Buildings and structures in Salem, Oregon Culture of Salem, Oregon Music venues completed in 1870 National Register of Historic Places in Salem, Oregon Theatres in Oregon Tourist attractions in Salem, Oregon Historic district contributing properties in Oregon