In 1905, seven years before Arizona became a state, Prescott was already a social center of the Southwest. Embodying the social culture of the time, the Elks Opera House had its grand opening. 105 years later, a second unveiling of this historical building is taking place. The Elks has gone through many developments in the century it has been in use. Starting as a hotspot for theater, silent films, and orchestras, it developed into more of a cinema when “talkie” films were created just before the 1930’s. Films continued to be a main entertainment attraction for The Elks throughout the 70’s, but in the 80’s, a preference for theater resurfaced. 

A couple of years ago, there was a total mixed bag of events going on at The Elks Theater. From local youth plays, to showing Casa Blanca (and other classic films), to being avery occasional music venue. This was around the time when the copper Elk (named “Bill”… who knew?) was returned to his original place atop the theater. Bill had been removed in 1971 and was staying at the Elks Club until 2006 when it was decided that Bill should be the symbol of The Elks that he once was.

Most recently, the community came together with a vision to restore The Elks Opera House to its original glamour , and the beautiful space is being unveiled yet again. Look on The Elks website for tickets to all the upcoming events (including the Prescott Film Festival, a Steel Drum Band, and lots of independent theater). Don’t forget your bow tie  and opera glasses!

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 18th, 2010 at 11:12 pm and is filed under Arizona, Entertainment, Prescott, blog, downtown, historical, tourism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.