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Source: Ron Glowczewski
It burned down on Tuesday, August 20, 1991. It was located at 45 South Main Street. It was built in 1916. When it burned, the 5 fire departments called to the scene stayed there fighting the fire for 9 hours (4:30 pm Tuesday to 1:15 am Wednesday) and in the meantime, drained the towns 110,000 gallon water tower on it and had to drive north of town to pump water out of a private pond to compensate.
The buildings owner, a Eugene Wilson, told authorities that there was only 4 to 6 barrels of cyanide located in the ruins of the structure. They eventually pulled 100 barrels of cyanide out of the wreckage (83 barrels out of the basement and another 17 barrels sitting behind the place).
The destruction of this structure pretty much marked the death of Carsonville. The untimely departure of the Opera House left a huge void downtown, a year later, the independent hardware store down the street folded, as well as the huge grain elevator on the west edge of town a few years after that.