Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1908-12-16
.ELKS WILL BUILD
NEW OPERA HOUSE
Contract Awarded
for the Handsome
Structure
READY IN THREE MONTHS
Will Be Located in Rear of
Postoffice and Be an
Ornament to City.

The Elks Opera House, which has so
long been in the planning, will soon
be in course of construction and at an
early date will become an addition of
much value to the beauty and materi-
al prosperity of Santa Fe. At last
evenings meeting Of Santa Fe lodge
No. 46o, B. p O. Elks, the action of
the building committee in awarding
the contract to the lowest bidder late
yesterday afternoon, was ratified and
provision made for meeting the fl
nancial end of the construction.
The bids were opened yesterday af.
ternoon, and were as follows: Lyon
& Axtell, Pueblo, s11,521; c. A. Dahl
gren, $13,790: A. Windsor SIS, ,76S. The
bid of Lyon e AXtell being the lowest,
that firm of contractors was awarded
the contract. They are at present
engaged in building the military bar
racks and armory at Roswell. These
bids were for the construction of the
building merely, and do not cover the
cost Of installing the heating, plumb
ing, lighting, seating and electric wir-
ing nor the scenery.
Will Cost $4,000.
The lodge hopes to secure the erec-
ton of the building complete for about
$4,000 The lodge last evening voted
I'd secure loan of $4,000 from the
Mutual Building and Loan Association
which, with $4,000 cash on hand, will
enable the greater part of the work
to be done. The Elks will give Sc
ries of entertainments during the
month of January from which a con-
siderable sum will be realized.
The work of construction will begin
s,on, and will be completed within
100 days. The beautiful opera house
will be erected upon lot owned by
the Elks north of the Santa Fe fire
department building beyond the post
office on Lincoln street, and in the
rear of the Woman's Board of Trade
library.
Description of Building.
The plans for the building were
drawn by I. Fl. and w. M. Rapp, archi-
tects. The building material is brick.
A brief description will show that it
will be beautiful structure, and one
of the finest opera houses in all the
southwest. From the street one will
enter lobby over which will be a
band portico On the right side of
the lobby will be the box office, and
to the left the entrance to the bal
cony. Straight ahead from the lobby
will be the entrance to the parquet.
The auditorium will be dished so that
every seat will be a good one-there
will be no blind seats. The auditori-
UNI will seat $50 people, the balcony
150, and the four proscenium boxes
on either side will seat so more max
ing total seating capacity OF $50.
Modern and Fire-Proof.
The dimensions of the opera house
will be 50 yS5 feet with a height at
the highest point in the stage loft OF
46 feet The stage will be 20 feet 9
inches in depth and 2S feet across
the front, being large enough to ac-
commodate any show on the road The
proscenium arch will be Il feet by
2S feet. The scenery will all be drop
ped from the stage loft in the most
modern manner There will be an as
bestos curtain, and fire vent above
the stage. The lighting will be up to
date with foot lights In three colors.
There will be fire exits on each side
of the parquet and on each side OF
the balcony. The interior finishing
will be plain but substantial, and ev-
erything connected with the building
will be up to date and modern. Spec
ial attention will be given to the acous'
tic properties and stage effects.
The building committee in charge
is composed of s. G Cartwright, I.
P. Gable, Charles Haspelmath, A. u
Morrison, r. F. Nuding, N. l.. King