The Traverse City Opera House is celebrating its 130th anniversary today (Saturday), the culmination of a historic roller coaster journey that has included heyday periods of bustling community activity, decades of vacancy and decline, and a modern-day renovation and resurgence. Now the venue – coming out of the pandemic and forging a new path of self-management after a decade of oversight by MSU’s Wharton Center – is preparing for growth that will take it through another century.

Since 2010, the City Opera House Heritage Association (COHHA) has operated under an agreement with MSU’s Wharton Center to help manage the venue. Under the arrangement, COHHA paid Wharton a $75,000 annual management fee that partially covered the salary of Executive Director Diana Baribeau – who held dual roles at Wharton and the Opera House – as well as venue support for services like marketing, ticketing, talent booking, development, website hosting, and printed materials. Baribeau says those services were vital in helping the City Opera House “get off the ground” after the deal was brokered.

In more recent years, however, COHHA board members and staff have gradually become more self-sufficient, taking on more and more services internally, such as moving to a different ticketing system, printing materials in-house, and launching a new website. Last summer, COHHA decided to take the plunge and end its management agreement with Wharton Center. Baribeau says there is still a warm partnership between the organizations; Wharton Center and the City Opera House now have a five-year, non-financial agreement in place to collaborate on programming, including arts education.

The change back to a self-management structure is just the latest plot twist in the long, storied history of the City Opera House. Construction on the venue began on Front Street in 1891 (see timeline below), with early city leaders Charles Wilhelm, Tony Bartok, and Frank Votruba spearheading construction at a cost of $50,000. At the time, it was the first building in Traverse City to use electric lights. The venue opened to the public on February 5, 1892 with a dinner and ballroom dancing. For the next three decades, the City Opera House would play a central role in Traverse City social life, hosting plays, operettas, lectures, recitals, balls, commencement ceremonies, benefits, sporting events, concerts, dances, and more.

By the 1920s, however, the venue was closed. To prevent competition with its movie theaters on East Front Street, the motion picture firm Fitzpatrick & McElroy leased the City Opera House and closed it. In the 1940s it was rented out for a Works Progress Association project creating miniature city buildings. From the mid-40s until 1985, the new owner of the building, William Votruba, and family friends informally conducted local group tours in the shuttered building. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and donated to the city by the Votrubas in 1980. Shortly after that, the COHHA was formed, dedicated to restoring and reopening it.

COHHA board member Steve Constantin describes “three phrases” of growth that the venue has undergone in modern times. The first is the “rebirth phase,” in which Constantin says community leaders like Karen Smith, Bryan Crough, and Ken Zacks – capitalizing on the Votrubas’ generous donation to the city – “did a great job of bringing the Opera House back to life” after decades of being shuttered. Then came the “stabilization phase,” which occurred under Wharton management, Constantin says.

“I think of that as phase two...when we realized we didn’t really know how to run a venue like this,” says Constantin. “Taking on that partnership created a win-win where MSU had a larger presence in northern Michigan, and we had their support for the venue.”

COHHA taking back the reins of venue management marks the start of what Constantin calls “phase three, the growth into the future stage.” Part of this phase has included a $3 million capital campaign called BEYOND TOMORROW: The Campaign for Your City Opera House. Started in 2018 with an initial goal of $4 million, the campaign goal was lowered to $3 million during the pandemic and has successfully raised $2.7 million to date, with six months remaining to raise the last $300,000. In addition to operating expenses, the campaign is funding numerous capital improvements including new chairs, an in-house sound system, an external marquee (slated to be installed by summer), new carpeting, and new paint.

Funds will also help bring in new arts education programming, a major focus going into the future, according to Baribeau. In addition to expanded classes for middle and high school students, she’d like to see a two-year internship program established with Northwestern Michigan College to train students in stage technology and arts management. “The arts have always been there, and you’re always welcome no matter who you are, how you think, or how you dress. It doesn’t matter, they always welcome you,” she says of the importance of connecting young people to arts programming and careers.

Keeping a venue like the Opera House surviving – much less thriving – hasn’t been easy during the pandemic. Baribeau credits state and federal relief funds for assisting on that front; Constantin also acknowledges Baribeau herself, who donated all of her salary last year and $30,000 of it this year. The Opera House had to lay off staff in the early stages of the pandemic; most of those employees are now back, though former part-time development and marketing directors didn’t return, leading to the creation of a new full-time position combining those roles that is now held by former TCAPS spokesperson Christine Guitar. Baribeau, who says she may be ready to retire in the next year or two, hints that Guitar could be next in line to lead the organization, noting the hire was a “succession planning” move. For his part, Constantin says board members, donors, volunteers, and community members and performers willing to keep coming to events have helped sustain the Opera House through the pandemic and poised it to succeed in whatever phase comes next.  

“Those folks said that they’re not going to abandon the ship and have continued to support us, so we’ve been able to weather the storm and now look forward to coming back strong,” he says.

City Opera House Historical Timeline
1891: City Opera House construction begins.
1892: City Opera House opens to the public on February 5, 1892.
1892-1940: City Opera House serves as a venue hosting plays, operettas, lectures, recitals, balls, commencement ceremonies, benefits, sporting events, concerts, dances, and more.
1972: City Opera House listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
1978: Informal discussion on restoring the building begins.
1979: City Opera House Heritage Association (COHHA) receives 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.
1980: William and Gretchen Votruba, owners of the City Opera House, donate the building to the City of Traverse City.
1980-1984: Public awareness campaign and fundraising efforts are undertaken.
1985: Construction begins on Phase One of the restoration project.
1986: On May 28, 1986, City Opera House officially reopens.
1992-1995: Management of City Opera House is contracted with the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority. The number of public events increases to an average of 200 nights per year with annual attendance over 36,000.
1996: COHHA announces the formal fundraising campaign for the restoration of City Opera House.
2002: City Opera House closes from January to October for construction.
2008: The Hanley chandelier is installed in the auditorium.
2010: COHHA and Wharton Center/Michigan State University form management agreement.
2015: Bryan Crough dressing rooms open to the public. The addition of two Actors Equity Association-approved dressing rooms allows City Opera House to bring in national touring acts.
2017-2018: Third floor renovation completed, including public restrooms and the Overture Room, a conference room space used for COHHA Board meetings, VIP events, and private rentals.
2010-2018: City Opera House works to achieve its mission: to promote and nurture the venue as a regional hub for connecting people to the arts and each other. COH presents two performing arts series annually, offers arts education programs for youth, welcomes over 60,000 visitors to more than 280 events annually, hosts community events like the National Writers Series and TC New Tech, rents the venue year-round for weddings and corporate meetings, and exhibits regional visual artists.
2018: COHHA members and committed community members come together to develop a 3-year capital campaign called BEYOND TOMORROW: The Campaign for Your City Opera House.
2019: COVID-19 shutters venues, the BEYOND TOMORROW Campaign committee reduces fundraising goal from $4 million to $3 million, moves forward.
2021: In July/August, City Opera House reopens to the public after mandated COVID-19 closures. On November 30, 2021, the BEYOND TOMORROW Campaign is publicly launched cityoperahouse.org/beyondtomorrow.
2022: As of February 1, 2022, the BEYOND TOMORROW Campaign has raised more than $2.7M toward its $3M goal.