The Orillia Opera House is the anchor of the old downtown. Built in 1895 as a town hall, market, jail, library, and auditorium, it was partly rebuilt after a 1915 fire and still carries the heavy arches and civic confidence of a small Ontario city that wanted to look permanent.
The Gordon Lightfoot Auditorium gives the building extra local weight. Check the schedule if you are staying overnight; otherwise it is still worth seeing from the street while walking Mississaga Street.