Moroni Opera House (Monson House) 325 West Main Street Moroni, Utah 435-436-9300 |
The Moroni Opera House is the oldest public building in Moroni and one of three surviving nineteenth-century opera houses in Utah.[1][2]
The Moroni Opera House, also known as the Monson House, was built in 1891 by Mons Monson and T. J. Morley. The theater was the "best-equipped opera house in the county" and had a 35-by-25-foot stage, a balcony, orchestra pit, and a seating capacity of 1,000.[1]
The Moroni Opera House was used for live theater, movies, and community events. The opera house closed in 1915 after Kozy Theater was built.[1]
In the 1930s the theater was used as a feed processing plant.[3] The stage was later removed and all the props destroyed when the building was remodeled into a flour mill.[4]
The Moroni Heritage Development Commission began a restoration of the opera house in 1991 with help from the George S. And Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, National Heritage Foundation, Utah State Historical Society, and Community Impact Board.[3] The Moroni Opera House is now used for live theater, dance performances, wedding receptions, and community events.
1. "Chapter 15: The Communities of Sanpete", A History of Sanpete County, by Albert C. T. Antrei and Allen D. Roberts, Utah State History CD-ROM
2. The two other nineteenth-century opera houses are in Beaver and St. George.
3. "Preserving the Past & Future", utahheritage.com
4. "Chapter 14: From Homesteading to High Technology", A History of Sanpete County, by Albert C. T. Antrei and Allen D. Roberts, Utah State History CD-ROM