By the last half of October all that remained to be done was to finish the painting, decorating, and plumbing, although all-important chairs had not yet arrived.Īt least one important figure outside the town had a hand in all of this: Toronto’s Ambrose J. The ten carpenters hustled to keep in front of the bricklayers. In September MacPherson (with his thirteen bricklayers and sixteen labourers) laid 400,000 bricks in four days. MacPherson was granted the contract for brick work. Towards the end of July the local mason J.J. A long list of other Peterborough firms took part. Shuttleworth of Fuller Claflin (Shuttleworth was also, at the same time, supervising the renovation of the Grand Opera House in Hamilton). Reflecting one of the great concerns of the era, a report stated that the new building would have fourteen exits “and will be built in as nearly a fire-proof manner as is possible.” The New York Theatrical Stock Exchange Company would be in charge of construction, with a New York architect, Fuller Claflin Theatre Building Company, providing the design.īy the end of June, with the foundation being laid, things were “progressing rapidly.” A standard problem arose when contractors from outside the city came in with tenders that those in charge considered to be overly high and in the end the work was “done almost wholly by local firms” under the supervision of E. The job proceeded apace (unusual in the annals of construction work). The directors consulted the New York Theatrical Stock Exchange, which apparently stood ready with “plans already prepared for almost any style of an opera house,” but contracts for construction would be distributed locally. Dennistoun presented the council with plans for the opera house’s ground floor and balcony in early June a council by-law fixed the assessment for the new building at $3,000 for ten years a licence fee was set at $10 a year. The response must have been satisfactory because by mid-May the future of the opera house was “practically certain.” Its location, immediately north of the Turner warehouse, had been determined.īy that time it was also apparent that Rupert Bradburn, among the directors, was spearheading the project he would eventually become its manager and officially cited as “proprietor.” In late May, with the money in place, a city council committee gave the project the go-ahead. If enough citizens subscribed, the project would go ahead – and could be ready for the autumn. A thousand seats would be reserved on opening night for those who subscribed, and the project’s viability was contingent on this support. “The only thing necessary now to make an Opera House a realization,” the Examiner reported in May, “is the response of the citizens.” Walter Stocker, the town’s official bill poster, went out around town circulating a subscription list to “pre-empt” seats for an opening night performance. William Fair stated that the company would not start building until 80 per cent of the stock had been subscribed, and the push to get smaller subscribers in Peterborough began in earnest. Ambrose Small himself came to town to consult with the promoters, discussing matters related to management and the arranging of details. The provincial government granted a charter, incorporating the Academy of Music with capital stock of $40,000. It had a splendid water works system (wanting only a new dam) it had the cheapest electric light and power in the province an excellent street railway system easy access to the best summer resorts and it would “soon have a splendid armouries, and fine Collegiate Institute, and new Separate school building.” About all it lacked was a decent opera house.įinally, with the support of the Town Council, the project moved ahead. Peterborough had half a dozen “splendid parks,” the Examiner noted in a March editorial. The dearth of good entertainment in the winter of 1904-05 was a major issue. In spring 1905 both the Examiner and Review continued to lament the lack of a suitable opera house for a city with the merits of Peterborough. The “provisional directors” expected things to move quickly and a theatre to be ready by September 1904, but things moved along more slowly. Small said that when the best theatre companies came to Toronto, Peterborough would get them too. Small, the prominent “theatre magnate,” who took “a large block of stock” and, moreover, promised to lease the new Peterborough opera house for a period of ten years – thus providing a necessary boost to the enterprise. In February 1904, William Fair, a local stockbroker, travelled to Toronto on behalf of the group and talked to several “former Peterborough gentlemen” who agreed to purchase shares in the company.
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