Brown Grand Opera House Receives $10,000 Grant for 1907 Napoleon Restoration Project
On the evening of October 1, members of the Brown Grand Board of Directors and the Belleville Chapter of the Kansas Masonic Lodge met at the Brown Grand Opera House in Concordia for the presentation of a $10,000 check that will help support a restoration project at the theatre, preserving a central part of their history for years to come.
The Brown Grand Opera House, which was built in 1907 and recently celebrated its 119th anniversary, has had an eventful history during its nearly century-and-a-quarter existence. One of the standout events happened in 1967 when an EF 2 tornado hit Concordia and damaged the Brown Grand and the original Napoleon curtain.
Brown Grand Opera House Executive Director Melissa Swenson shares more details.
The original Napoleon curtain was created as a gift from Earl Brown, director of construction for the opera house, to his father, Colonel Napoleon Bonaparte Brown, who funded the cost to build the theatre. The cost in 1907 to build the Brown Grand was $40,000, which Swenson says adjusted for cash value today would equate to roughly $1.3 million.
Swenson shares the inspiration behind the Brown Grand's desire to bring the original Napoleon curtain back home.
The original curtain has remained stored in an art studio in Minnesota for decades since it was damaged, and upon inquiry, the Brown Grand Board received a quote of $37,500 to repair the original to return it home to Concordia.
With fundraising efforts and generous grants gifted to the Brown Grand, and the Belleville Chapter of the Kansas Masonic Lodge's most recent grant award, the Brown Grand has now officially raised the necessary funds to restore the original Napoleon curtain and bring it home in 2027, right in time for the opera house's 120th anniversary.
Swenson says that plans are currently being made for a celebration of the original curtain's return next year that will tie-in with the celebratory 120th season at the Brown Grand.
To learn more about the Brown Grand Opera House, you can visit their website at https://www.browngrand.org/.