About 123 years later, the goal is the same as the city takes over with a three-year lease. In recent years, the Opera House mainly has housed weddings. But the city plans to fix up the stage to host plays, dances, movies and more.

Over the years the Opera House has seen a lot of changes, say Sherri, Courtney and Ken Williams, who have owned the building for 18 years.

The original one burned to the ground in 1909. In 1911, the current one was erected about a block away at its current site at Cedar Street and Third Avenue.

The Opera House, built by the International Order of Odd Fellows, served as their fraternal lodge, but also held community social events and hosted traveling shows.

It used to host a vaudeville show every week, complete with local loggers dressing up as women to get laughs. There also was the popular comedy duo of Zeke and Daisy. Sherri likes that pair so much she wants to name the remodeled bathrooms in the building after them. The bathrooms are no longer on the stage; they have been moved to the back.

Dances were held there, and it also functioned as a restaurant and a theater. A movie on the Titanic was shown there in 1912.

The curtain on the stage was painted to honor advertisers, and it also was a big deal when the facility started using electrical lights.

War rallies also took place at the Opera House. “Anything to help the community,” Sherri said.

In the 1950s it was a roller skating rink. It also has been a shooting range and furniture store. Also, it was a 1980’s disco and nightclub called Cheetahs, when it was painted Pepto Bismol pink.

It was named to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1982. As the Williamses were fixing it up to turn over to the city they found blueprints for a children’s theater in 1996 that included putting in an elevator.

The Williamses took over around 1998 after it had been abandoned and boarded up with plywood for about a decade.

“It was a mess,” Courtney said, adding it took about a year to fix it up enough to be usable for weddings and other private events. The caretaker’s house next door was made into a bride’s cottage.

“Weddings were the thing that made the most economic sense,” Courtney said.

The Williamses bought the Opera House as a real estate investment, and put thousands of dollars into fixing it up. They also have remodeled the top floor, which includes office space and even a kitchen.

But the Williamses always wanted to do more.

“We’re excited for the city to use it,” Sherri said. “It will open it up more for the public.”