History of the Opera House: Restoration takes a decade

In September 1974, the citizens of Cheboygan approved a millage to restore the Opera House, hoping to have a finished building in time for the American bicentennial of 1976. In fact, the building would not be finished for 10 years, in June 1984.

The drive to finish the work quickly paradoxically slowed things down. The first obstacle was finding a builder to make quick repairs to the roof before winter, with the brunt of construction slated for the spring of 1975. The first bid was turned down, because the city wanted it finished earlier. The Cheboygan Observer said, “The City Council, seeking to hurry work on the City Hall, Tuesday night rejected the only bid submitted for repairs to the roof because the completion date was considered too late. The bidder was Shaw Construction Company, which proposed to do the work for $9,450. The company said it could complete the work by Dec. 31. The council decided to rebid the work in hopes of getting an earlier date ..."

By January, an architect was chosen, Douglas C. Morris of Bay City, a World War II naval war hero with a degree in architecture from the University of Michigan. Morris was experienced in designing city buildings. In January 1975, the Cheboygan Observer reported, “The architect, Douglas C. Morris, came here a week ago bringing three men. ... He met a consultant from New York Wed noon at the Pellston airport who was flying in to advise on Opera House colors and decoration. This consultant has done extensive work in Europe on theaters and churches. They will go over the building and decide how the Opera House should be decorated to restore it as it was at the turn of the century. While identical restoration may not be possible, said Morris, the aim will be to “retain the flavor’’ of the building.

The Opera House cannot be restored exactly as it was, he pointed out, because it must conform with building codes and present construction laws. This means that an elevator will have to be installed. Mr. Morris said the law provides that handicapped people who cannot walk stairs, such as wheelchair patients, cannot be deprived of the right of attending an event.”

When it was time to sign a contract with Morris, the City Council met with opposition from the city attorney, Peter Patrick. The clock was ticking and inflation was on the rise. The citizens approved $750,000 in millage to fix the Opera House, but inflation and higher estimates on the project drove up the cost of building. In April 1975, “City Attorney Peter Patrick warned the City Council Tuesday against a contract offered by the Opera House Architect because Mr. Patrick said the voters might change their minds and vote against restoration of the City building.” Patrick feared that citizens might be put off by the rising costs, and “petition a referendum and vote to cancel the project.” The city would be stuck paying Morris $60,000 even if the Opera House project was not completed.

After several months, Mayor Ellis Olson put his foot down and demanded the contract be signed. “Olson insisted that the Council had to proceed because it was a mandate from the voters.” Work was slated to begin on the Opera House in June 1975.

Obstacles appeared unexpectedly. In August of 1977, the Cheboygan Observer wrote in retrospect, “There were many frustrations. One was that wording on the millage referendum proposed levying taxes but said nothing about empowering the City to borrow by bonding against the millage revenue. To solve this problem, the Council appointed a Building Authority in 1975. State law allows such an administrative body and gives it power to issue bonds and take bids.”

Every delay was expensive and ate into the Opera House funding. In February 1976, the City Council was finally ready to take bids from contractors to do the work on the Opera House. “The city had originally committed to $750,000 in millage. But there were delays caused by legal entanglements and over engineering and design. Inflation raised the cost of the building to $900,000. When bids to do the work finally came in, they were too high. The Council and the Building Authority tried to solve the problem by cheapening the building, cutting out many important features, substituting cheaper materials and deglamorizing design,” the Cheboygan Observer reported.

The method of disseminating information about the millage and the bonds became a legal issue. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled “notice in a newspaper was inadequate to let people know about an intended bond issue.” Cheboygan had also voted for millage for new sewers at the same time. For a year, this court decision held up over $9,000,000 in millage funds for new sewers and the City Hall restoration. In April 1976 the court’s ruling was overturned, and the funds were finally freed up.

In August 1977, more good news came. While the millage funding was up in the air, City Manager William Arnold worked on several large grants for funding. He talked to over 60 lenders. One of the grants hit big. A federal grant, the Economic Development Agency Grant, allocated $1,681,000 to the City Hall/Opera House project.

To be continued...

— Kathy King Johnson is former executive director of the Cheboygan Opera House.