Minneapolis’s Metropolitan Opera House was located at 322 Marquette Ave.

NEW PEOPLE’S THEATER

It was first called the New People’s Theater, built by Lac Stafford.  Harry G. Carter, a Minneapolis architect, designed the Romanesque Revival building, and Lawrence Melvor designed the inside auditorium, which had two balconies and seating for approximately 1,500. According to Larry Millett, the designer neglected to account for a box office, so one was gerry-rigged under a staircase.

Its first manager was W.E. Sterling.  It opened on March 24, 1894.

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METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE

On December 16, 1894, the New People’s Theater was acquired by Jacob Litt, who renamed it the Metropolitan Opera House.  The Metropolitan began taking the Grand Opera House’s bookings in October, 1895.

 

 

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THE KITTY GING MURDER

One of the most interesting stories regarding the Minneapolis Metropolitan Opera House revolved around the murder of Kitty Ging.  On December 3, 1894, the lifeless body of Miss Catherine “Kitty” Ging was discovered on Excelsior Blvd. (then called Excelsior Road), just beyond Lake Calhoun in the vicinity of the Minikahda Golf Club. The Minneapolis Journal shouted “Foul Murder!,” elaborating that “A Bullet Hole in the Head Tells the Awful Story.”  Although suspicion fell on her friend Harry T. Hayward, he had an airtight alibi, having been seen at the Minneapolis Opera House on the night of the murder.

Miss Ging, it turned out, had been murdered by the janitor of her Minneapolis apartment building (the Bellevue Hotel, aka “Ozark Flats,” located at 13th and Hennepin). The janitor acted at the behest of Hayward, who did it for Kitty’s insurance policies and for the experience of having someone killed. While the janitor drew a life sentence, Hayward swung from the gallows at the Court House (8th Ave So. And 4th Street) on December 11, 1895. In 1911, the death sentence was forever outlawed in Minnesota. For a full account, see the book Murder in Minnesota by Walter N. Trenerry, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1962/1985.

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The Metropolitan Opera House was demolished in September 1937.   After serving as a parking lot, the Sheraton Ritz Hotel was built on the site in 1963.  The hotel was demolished in 1990, and the site is now the home of the 365 Nicollet apartments.

 

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SOURCES:

Edgar, cinematreasures.org

“Alibis and Architecture,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 13, 2019