In April, a fire ravaged the building at 30 Public Square, near Stuart's Opera House, in Nelsonville, Ohio. Months later, progress is being made in removing the debris and prepping plans for a renovation.
The fire that burned down Stuart’s Opera House in 1980 saved history from repeating itself last April.
A fire on April 11 ravaged the building at 30 Public Square, which housed the Hocking College art gallery. Stuart’s, located at 52 Public Square, sustained smoke and water damage but was not damaged by the fire.
After the 1980 fire, the opera house’s interior wooden structure and roof were replaced with steel.
“There were 40- and 50-foot flames coming out of the building touching Stuart’s Opera House. If it had the wooden structure, there’s no way (the theater) wouldn’t have caught on fire,” Tim Peacock, executive director of Stuart’s, said. “When I was watching it, I thought the entire block was going to burn.”
Though Stuart’s didn’t burn, its basement, which housed a lot of equipment, flooded from the water used to put out the fire and required dehumidifying, cleaning and repainting. Brian Koscho, the marketing director of Stuart’s, said the extensive cleaning was a “silver lining.”
The building at 30 Public Square never underwent a renovation like Stuart’s in 1980. Hocking College occupied its first floor but the second and third floors were for storage.
Since July, Peacock said 30 Public Square has been undergoing a process to stabilize the walls to make it safe for fire inspectors.
“There’s no final determination (of the cause of the fire) because they weren’t able to get into the debris because giant brick walls are standing there with no support,” Peacock said.
Peacock said he expects the stabilization process and inspection to be finished by the end of September. The steel used to stabilize the building will remain as the building’s new structure, though it will still have its brick exterior to match the Public Square’s historic look.
This summer, Stuart’s reached its $4 million goal for its campaign to renovate the theater’s lobby and all three floors of 30 Public Square.
“(The campaign) had been planned for years, so that will all start hopefully Dec. 1 or Jan. 1 and last nine months to a year,” Peacock said. “Once finished, Stuart’s Opera House will essentially be an all-new facility that can accommodate many more events and activities.”
The theater in Stuart’s is on the second floor, with its lobby on the ground floor of 52 Public Square. The plan, Peacock said, is to expand the ground floor lobby into 36 Public Square and 46 Public Square — one is vacant and the other houses Stuart’s offices — to triple the lobby’s size.
The building at 30 Public Square will become a space for arts education and smaller productions.
Stuart’s hasn’t slowed down programming.
Singer-songwriter Madeleine Peyroux performed at Stuart’s only one week after the fire. About five weeks after that, the 2015 Nelsonville Music Festival began.
Koscho said he is particularly excited for the opera house’s upcoming two events.
African artists Thomas Mapfumo and Terakaft will perform Sept. 9 and Sept. 14, respectively. Arts for Ohio is a co-sponsor of Mapfumo’s concert, meaning many free tickets will be available for Ohio University students.
“What Bob Marley would be to Jamaica is what Mapfumo is to Zimbabwe,” Koscho said. “(Terakaft) isn’t as well known right now, but … we wanted so much for them to come that it’s the inaugural Stuart’s staff pick show.”
