This building had been built at 219-223 Marquette Ave.

CURTIS BUILDING

According to Randolph Edgar’s history written in 1928, the stones for the foundation of this building were supposed to have been picked up from the Mississippi River bed.  A store occupied the ground floor, offices were on the second floor, and the third floor was a hall.  The hall was used as a business college, and during the period when Central High School was being built the students went to school here as well

Next, George Scott made the third floor into a small theater  for three month, floowed a dog show.

In 1877 Chambers Brothers reopened the theater.

THEATRE COMIQUE

Captain W.W. Brown, who had been managing the Standard Theater, moved the variety shows to the Theater Comique from August 1881 to March 1897, entertaining  mostly lumberjacks, according to Randolph Edgar.  Brown rebuilt the theater several times, enlarging the the stage, increasing the seating capacity, and finally doing away with the third floor and replaced it with a balcony.  After making a fortune from the theater and losing it by other investments, Brown let the Comique became a rat-infested dive with secret stairways, wine rooms, and subcellars.

SALVATION ARMY

In 1895 the building was taken over by the Salvation Army.

The building burned to the ground on July 23, 1901.