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P.O. Box 618
509-253-4594
Mission:
The Harrington Opera House Society is a 501 C-3, non profit organization dedicated to restoring the 1904 Bank Block Building. Our mission is to not only restore and preserve the Bank Block Building, but to provide and promote artistic & cultural events.
Our mission as a service organization to the youth through Artists in Residence programs and events that serve our citizens is key to our success as an organization that has established longevity & provides an integral link to the greater community.
History:
The Harrington Opera House Society was founded on January 11, 1992 to preserve the old opera house and Bank Block Building.
The Harrington Opera House first opened to the "largest attendance in the history of Harrington" on December 16, 1904.
The 350 seat Opera House auditorium is part of the Bank Block, an imposing building sitting on the corner of Willis and South Third Streets. Designed and constructed out of locally made bricks by the Harrington firm of J.R. Burrill and Company, it was completed in December, 1904.
The Bank of Harrington was located on the main floor. L. V. Sisum, owner of the Harrington Planing Mill, provided the wood interior and furnishings of the bank. Also on the ground floor were J.W. Dow's shaving parlors, R. Benchly's cigar and confectionery store and the Harrington Citizen. There was a bowling alley under the cigar store and on the second floor was the opera house and a lodging house separated by a wall from the auditorium.