The Marysville Opera House
1225 Third
Marysville, WA

The Marysville Opera House is a three story poured concrete structure, located in the SW half of Sec 28 T30N, R5E WM. Erected in 1911, the building is rectangular in plan (50' wide by 100' deep).

The exteriors of the south and east elevations are stuccoed while the north and west elevations exhibit impressions of the wood forms in which they were poured. A stepped belt course between the second and third stories surrounds the building. Surmounting the south and east elevations is a decorative parapet while on the north and west elevations the parapet is low and plain. The facade is divided into three pilasterd bays, the center of which contains the entry. The two door entry features a shallow pedimented portico supported by two sets of paired octagonal columns. Left and right of center on the third floor level of the bay are two window openings. Mounted in each opening are paired double hung sash windows with rectangular transoms. Above the windows but below the parapet is a centrally mounted small cornice which spans most of the bay width. Molded into a panel in the parapet and located centrally in the bay is a relief of the three conjoined circle device which is the symbol of the I.O.O.F. organization. The left bay, narrower than the center bay, features: on the ground level, a single door entry on the left flanked on the right by a double hung sash window; two small symmetrically arranged casement windows on the second floor; two symmetrically arranged double sash windows on the third flood; the letters "IOOF" molded in relief in the parapet. The right hand bay is a mirror image of the left with the exception that the date "1911" is molded in relief in the parapet. The east elevation is divided into six pilastered bays. It is pierced by one single door entry and a variety of single as well as paired double hung sash and casement windows. Three of the bays exhibit decorative panels either beside or beneath windows. The very plain north elevation is derided into three bays on a pattern echoing that of the facade. Located centrally in the elevation on the first floor is a double stage door while in the upper left quadrant is located a single entry door comprising the third floor fire escape. This opens onto a wooden porch from which a flight of wood stairs leads down to the west. The arrangement of bays on the west elevation is symmetrically reflexive of the east elevation. Fenestration, comprising a combination of casement and double hung sash windows, varies however: windows in the west elevation are fewer in number and arranged differently than those in the east elevation.

The roof is a combination of flat and sawtooth designs.

The building has a full basement which is currently being used for storage. The first floor -features an entry lobby, several anterooms and a large auditorium with a stage and back stage. On the second floor is the balcony for the main auditorium. Eight offices are found on the third flood along with a smaller auditorium, meeting rooms, small banquet room, and a kitchen. Though the building interior is plainly finished for the most part, it does feature extensive use of pressed tim ceilings as well as exhibiting some detail examples of artistic carpentry.

The building exterior is currently painted a light beige with brown trim. Research has been unable to establish the original colors of the building.

Statement of Significance:

The significance of the Marysville Opera House lies in two areas. First, built by the International Order of Odd Fellows is in part porvide a cultural center for Marysville, the building is a tangible manifestation of the beneficial social influence exercised by fraternal organizations on behalf of their host communities. Second, as a poured concrete building it represents an important construction innovation for its period and locale.

The Marysville Opera House was erected in 1911 by the Ebey Lodge #104 of the International Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) to provide a meeting place for the Lodge and a cultural center for the town of Marysville after an earlier hall was burned. Chartered on August 20th, 1891, the lodge had no permanent meeting place until about 1898 when it erected a frame building to serve as both an opera house and a home for the I.O.O.F. The frame building served the community until about 1910 when it was destroyed by fire. Erected by local contractor A.E. Heider, the new opera house cost $20,000 and was described as being "designed to be fully up to the needs of Marysville for many years". The building served as a focus for Marysville social events, housing not only the Odd Fellows but also similar social organizations such as the Rebeccas and the Neighbors of Wood Craft. Too, it provided the means and the opportunity for the citizens of Marysville, a relatively remote town for many years, to enjoy the performing arts as presented by traveling troups, as well as affording a forum for presentations by local talent.

With respect to the Odd Fellows organization itself, community service was one of the orders primary objectives. The Odd Fellows established a cemetery and sold lots, conducted a welfare program which paid benefits to ill and indigent members, their families and widows and made loans to members.

Against the background severe economic and social dislocation accompanying the Great Depression, these lodge functions assumed even greater significance. The relief efforts which the lodge undertook not only were of immediate benefit to recipients but, as with similar projects in other communities, were important in re-establishing local faith in the community ability to deal with the Depression's effects. The organization was also important for its social influence in the community. The Odd Fellows was moral rather than religious order, and enforced a strict moral code upon its members. During the life of the lodge its membership, though limited to the local, white male population, included many of the town's leading citizens who, as members, were expected to abide by the code.

Architecturally, the opera house represents an unusual variation from the masonry and wood frame construction techniques which were regionally common at the time of its erection. No other contemporaneous buildings employing this technology have been identified in the local area. Within the entire county only one earlier poured concrete building has been discovered, an industrial boiler house dating from 1906.

Though the lodge dispanded in 1966 after 75 years of service to the community of Marysville the substantial concrete opera house which it left behind is an imposing and important architectural cornerstone for the community of Marysville. Also, it memorializes that spirit which motivates individuals in a community to band together and strive harmoniously to the general benefit of the community at large.

This web page is hosted by Mamoun Sakkal AIA, architect