The City Opera House on Front Street dates from 1891 and was built by the lumberman Perry Hannah, who effectively founded modern Traverse City. The building served as a civic center, performance space, and social hub through the lumber boom and into the 20th century. After a long period of disuse, it was restored and reopened in the 1990s and now operates as a performing arts venue with a busy schedule of concerts, theatre, and community events.
The interior retains much of its original Victorian character — wooden floors, a balcony, decent sightlines from most seats. The scale is intimate; there are no bad seats in the house. It is worth checking the program when you visit, as the venue attracts regional and national acts well above what the city's size might suggest.