saving cottrill’s opera house.

Over the decades, industry slowed and Thomas’ population declined. In 1963, the Suttons sold the theater to Ralph and Betty Stuart (who had previously owned the opera house in Parsons). Faced with dwindling audience numbers and competition from television, the new owners were ultimately forced to close the theater in 1972. The local Catholic church, St. Thomas Aquinas, operated the theater as a community service until 1977, when the building finally went dark. Local groups would occasionally use the building for live theater, but even these sporadic productions grew less frequent as time went on.

As happens with many shuttered buildings, the Opera House slowly began to deteriorate. Water infiltrated the building, damaging bricks, mortar, and beams—and filling the basement. At one point, massive icicles formed inside the building, the result of subfreezing interior temperatures and a leaky roof.

Fortunately, concerned local citizens took action. In 1978, Betty Stuart, the buildings’s last commercial owner, donated the building to Alpine Festival. This group succeeded in their effort to have Cottrill’s Opera House added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1981, Alpine Heritage Preservation, a new organization, was incorporated as a 501(c)(3). Its mission: restore Cottrill’s Opera House.

AHP’s restoration work includes the following milestones:

• Resurfaced main roof; rebuilt rotted truss ends (1982)

• Stabilized ceiling joists and windows; continued truss end repairs (1984)

• Stabilized first floor (1989)

• Installed new roof; stabilized mortar and basement walls (2001)

• Erected fire egress tower (2003)

• Renovated north end of ground floor; installed fire alarm system (2008)

• Renovated middle of ground floor; commissioned study of trusses, confirming structural integrity (2013)

• Secured tenants for street-level storefronts, which currently serve as the headquarters for ArtSpring, a local non-profit that serves as the Tucker County Arts Council

Now, Alpine Heritage Preservation is gearing up to complete its renovation efforts and tackle the auditorium space itself. To learn more about the project, check out the plan.