Croswell, two-time governor of Michigan (1877-1881) and prominent Adrian citizen. Furthermore, the structure is directly linked to Charles M. The Croswell Opera House is also significant for its interrupted career as an entertainment center, among the oldest continuously operated in Michigan, which boasts and impressive list of artist who performed there.
The Croswell Opera House is significant for its architecture which, though dating from several different periods, forms a continuum reflecting significant changes in American entertainment forms and the corresponding changes in architectural tastes and function. The present interior, executed in a restrained Neo-Classical style, dates from the 1921 renovation. Below the parapet, which is supported by brick piers and a steel beam lintel, is a recessed entrance. The surface is of brick with limestone detail. The lobby is one-story in height with a low-pitched gable parapet set between two brick piers. The facade of the lobby was completed in 1921, and a marquee installed two years later. Extending from the 1882 vestibule to Maumee Street is a long, narrow lobby built in 1919 concealing the ornamental facade of the vestibule. The original facade had a round-arch entrance, executed in polychrome brick, which was concealed in 1882 when a small, brick vestibule was added.
CROSWELL OPERA HOUSE WINDOWS
The side facades each had six round-head windows on the upper story and six segmental-arch-head windows on the lower story which have been filed in with brick.
The 1896 extension is clad in grey asbestos shingle. The stage housing at the end of the auditorium was extended upward and outward in 1896, increasing the fly gallery and stage depth. The cornice is adorned with a corbel table. (Two adjacent commercial buildings that now house theater functions are not included in the historic designation.) The roof is gabled with a low pitch. It’s awe-inspiring.The Adrian Union Hall/Croswell Opera House, completed about 1866, is a two-story, rectangular structure constructed of red brick laid in common bond. “Sometimes when you walk in here at the end of the day, and it’s empty, you can stand here and feel the weight of all that’s happened here in the last 156 years. “I think preserving a theater like this gives you a sense of community history and everything it’s been through.”Īnd all these years later, history is alive and well inside these walls. To put things in perspective, The Civil War was underway when construction began on it. “This theater is almost as old as the city of Adrian itself.” He says the Croswell is the oldest theater in Michigan and one of the oldest continually operating theaters in the country. And it truly has been a community-wide effort to make sure it is alive and well more than 150 years later.Įrik Gable is the Marketing Director. It’s been part of the landscape in Adrian since 1866. The Croswell Opera House continues to entertain audiences from all over the region. TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - A theater in Lenawee County has stood the test of time since the mid-1800s.
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