St. Paul’s Metropolitan Opera House was located at 100 East Sixth Street, between Minnesota and Robert Streets.

It was made necessary when St. Paul’s Grand Opera House on Wabasha Street burned down in 1888.  It took two years to make ready, opening on December 29, 1890.

The new building was built in conjunction with an adjacent eight-story office building, both designed by James Reed.  McElfatrick and Son of New York designed the inside of the theater, which had two balconies and could seat 1,800 patrons.  The office building was very plain, but the Opera House was ornate, with a gold, ivory, and brown color scheme.  A headline in the St. Paul Pioneer Press called it “A Splendid Theater, Leading in Many Respects, Anything of the Kind in America.”

St. Paul luminaries in attendance for opening night included railroad magnate James J.  Hill, for a performance of a light opera called “Robin Hood.”

1900 Photo courtesy Minnesota Historical Society

1902 Photo courtesy MHS

1936 Photo courtesy MHS

The theater and office building were demolished in 1936, replaced by U.S. Bank Center, built in 1975.

Source:

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