Smith Opera House, also known as the Geneva Theater, the Smith, and Smith's Opera House, is a historic

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

building located at

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Ontario County, New York Ontario County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 112,458. The county seat is Canandaigua. The county is part of the Finger Lakes region of the state. Ontario County is pa ...

. It was constructed in 1894 and is a -story, detached brick-and-stone building. It was built by one of Geneva's most respected citizens, William Smith, to a design by the architecture firm

Pierce & Bickford Pierce & Bickford was an American architectural firm active in Elmira, New York, from 1891 to 1932. It was formed as the partnership of architects of Joseph H. Pierce (1855-1932) and Hiram H. Bickford (1864-1929), with later partner Robert T. ...

. It was renovated in 1931 as a movie theater by architect Victor Rigaumount in a unique combination of Art Deco and Baroque motifs. ''See also:'' At one time, it was part of the Schine Theater Chain and was substantially redecorated and redesigned under their ownership. In the late 1960s the theater changed to the ownership of Panther Enterprises and was renamed simply The Geneva Theater. The Geneva Theatre was renamed Smith Opera House in 1983. It was listed on 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 1979. It is located in the Geneva Commercial Historic District.

References

External links

Cinema Treasures , Smith Opera HouseThe Smith Opera House website
Houses completed in 1894 Art Deco architecture in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Ontario County, New York Tourist attractions in Ontario County, New York Geneva, New York National Register of Historic Places in Ontario County, New York Historic district contributing properties in New York (state) Opera houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) {{OntarioCountyNY-NRHP-stub