Jamestown (CSi) The “Closing of the Opera House” video will be shown at the Arts Center Sunday June 23 at 3pm.

The Jamestown community is invited to a video showing from the 1975 of the Closing of The Opera House, recorded by Pat Bennett.

On Wed’s Wayne Byers Show on CSi Cable 2, an organizer of the event, Bruce Berg, said the video replay of the 1975 tribute is at the Jamestown Arts Center, starting at 3-p.m.

The video runs for about two hours.  Bruce said those attending need not stay for all two hours.

The original video was recorded by Pat Bennett, and has been held in the video archives at CSi TV 10 The Replay Channel.

The presentation of the video is shown with permission of CSi TV 10 – The Replay Channel.  The video was previously aired on The Replay Channel in 2015.

He thanks CSi’s Roy Sheppard and Thomas Ravely for their assistance in making the public showing possible.

He also thanked Arts Center, Director, Mindi Schmitz, along with Sally Jepsen and Angela Martini.

Bruce said the idea for the public showing came in part from historian Mark Strand of Fargo.

During the tribute, those speaking included, Jamestown residents, including many of whom have since passed away.

Those speaking included, Master of Ceremonies,  Bob Melland, along with reflections from, Mary Cusator, Ernie Hauser, Lenus Carlson, Don Wanner, Patty Boss, Bud Murphy and Mary Young, along with, then, North Dakota Lt. Governor, Wayne Sanstead.

Additional photos can be found in the Publication, “Jamestown Photos & Lore,” by Mark Strand, published in 2018, and is available at the Alfred Dickey Public Library in Downtown Jamestown.

Lloyd’s Opera House opened in Jamestown in 1896, and closed as the Opera House in 1941. It reopened as the Grand Theater in 1942, on 5th Avenue and 2nd Street Northeast and closed in the late 1950’s.

Also, the Star Theater, now the location of the Jamestown Arts Center,  opened in 1930 and still listed as still open in  the late 1950s.

The State Theater, originally the Bijou, opened in 1930 and was still listed as open in 1956.