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In 1889, the Belding Opera House was built in conjunction with Hotel Belding. It held 650 people and had the latest steam heat and electric lights. It occupied the second floor above the business block built west of the hotel. The opera house provided entertainment for hotel guests as well as local residents, and also served as a performance hall for community groups and schools. [Hughes, Cindy M.. Belding (Images of America) (p. 81). Arcadia Publishing Inc.]
Indications are that the original Opera House as constructed in 1888 was a rectangle 77' long and h5' wide.These dimensions were calculated in the Opera House itself and then checked against measurements taken in the commercial stores below the Opera House. The width was calculated by measuring in the auditorium from side wall to side wall above the chair rail, 9 distance of h3'3", and adding to this distance 1'0" for the structural west wall and 9" for the inside wall adjoining the hotel. The stores below substantiate this calculation: there are two rooms of 20'“" each in width with on 18" brick and wood paneled wall dividing them. This allows 2'10" for the two sidewalls and their paneling. [A History of the Belding Opera House by Jack Wilson]