The Groniger building, known as the Opera House in the early 1900s, is the now the home of the Suring Area Historical Society.
Once the center of the area’s social events, the building also has been home to a car dealership and retail stores selling shoes, antiques and home decor. The building now houses the Nines, a resale clothing store, and has one apartment in the back.
The building was constructed in 1909. The large hall on the second floor was the location of high school basketball games (the court lines are still visible), graduation ceremonies, square dances, and theater and minstrel shows.
The last basketball game was held in spring 1949. Graduation ceremonies that year were held in the new high school gym.
One can see historic bead board wainscoting around the huge, open space. The original stage is still there, where plays such as “The Baby Revue” and “Elmer Cleans Up” by Elderidge Publishing Company were performed by local talent. The high, arched plaster ceilings and walls display names, scratched along the stairway to the stage.
“There was a curtain that rolled up and down, not side to side,” said Mae Adams, who performed in some of the plays. She also gave a speech in the hall at her graduation.
Adams, as salutatorian, said she remembers being anxious about giving a speech to so many people.
“It was a big space for our area,” she said.
When the building became available, the Suring Area Historical Society membership voted to purchase it for $25,000. According to Adelaide Boettcher, historical society president, the group hopes to have it paid for in the next 18 months.
“We have plans to bring the building up to code, restore the facade in the front of the building and return the building back to its original state as is realistically possible,” said Boettcher, a niece of the original owner’s son.
Boettcher, who helped raise funds to build the Suring Area Public Library, is optimistic.
“We have a lot of people who are willing to help us” Boettcher said.
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