Downtown e-tour
The Wheeler Opera House

Jerome B. Wheeler completed construction of the Wheeler Opera House in 1889 at a cost of $80,000. It housed the Wheeler Bank as well as an opera theater touted as the second finest in the state. Two questionable fires in 1912 extensively damaged the upper floors of the Opera House, which were then closed off. In 1949 and 1956, Walter Paepcke financed restorations under the direction of artist-architect Herbert Bayer. In 1984, following three years of historic restoration by the City of Aspen, the Wheeler Opera House reopened to serve the community's growing demands for artistic diversity.
< The Opera House after its 1984 restoration.

^ Left and middle: The Opera House and theater as they looked, c. 1900. Right: The theater after questionable fires in 1912.

^ Left: Herbert Bayer's initial renovation before his more extensive 1956 restoration. At this time, Bayer built a small stage and erected wooden benches for spectators, but the ceiling remained open and charred. Middle: During the 1950s, fire codes demanded that an escape stairway be added to the exterior facade of the Opera House. Right: The theater after its 1984 restoration which is as historically accurate as modern-day building codes and technology demands dictate. © Wheeler Assoc. Photo