{"nrhp_refnum":"01000978","name":"Fischer Theater","other_names":["Grand Opera House","Heinly's Grand Opera House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"158-164 N. Vermillion St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Danville","county":"Vermilion County","state":"IL","lat":40.127844184000026,"lon":-87.64201804099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-09-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick theater and commercial building at 158-164 North Vermilion Street in downtown Danville, Illinois. It began as the Grand Opera House in 1884 and took its present Classical Revival form in a 1913 renovation.","why_significant":"The building is a prominent downtown landmark that shows the history of Danville's theater and entertainment life, from opera house to movie theater. Its 1912-13 remodeling by local architect Charles M. Lewis for Louis E. Fischer replaced the original facades with Classical Revival elevations and added storefronts, offices and apartments. The form lists no criteria letters legibly in the available text.","narrative":"Anchoring the southwest corner of North Vermilion and Harrison Streets in downtown Danville, this four-story brick building began in 1884 as the Grand Opera House. Theater owner Louis E. Fischer closed it in 1912 and hired local architect Charles M. Lewis to rebuild it. The work extended the building forty feet west, moved the stage, added a mezzanine of loge boxes and a new balcony, and shifted the entrance to Harrison Street. Four storefronts were created on Vermilion Street, with offices and apartments above. The original Romanesque Revival and Second Empire influenced facades gave way to Classical Revival elevations with Commercial Style influence, and the renamed Fischer Theater reopened on March 7, 1913. The facade includes Flemish bond brick, stone cornices and a 1952 neon and incandescent marquee. The south storefront keeps an early twentieth century jewelry store interior with wood display cases. Recorded as vacant, it remains one of downtown Danville's most prominent buildings and a record of the city's theater history.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Charles M. Lewis (of Lewis and Stuebe), architect of the 1912-13 renovation","architectural_style":"Classical Revival; Commercial Style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed under current function as vacant/not in use; the interior includes a modern bar area and a historic jewelry store space.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.810583-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/31/8942/28894231/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/01000978.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000978/b40b7f8fc4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000978/b40b7f8fc4-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fischer_Theatre_in_Danville.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fischer_Theatre_in_Danville.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894231","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_Theatre","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5454430"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/vermilion-county/fischer-theater-01000978/"}