PITTSBURGH — A national treasure in disrepair, the nation’s first Black opera house, located in Pittsburgh, is in desperate need of funding before the building and its legacy are lost forever.
“When things are lost, I think that’s unfortunately, when people realize how important it is,” said Jonnet Solomon, the Executive Director of the National Opera House.
Sitting on a hilltop at 7101 Apple Street is the nation’s first Black opera house. A historic landmark, founded by the Hall of Fame inducted musician Mary Cardwell Dawson in the 1940s.
The opera house was once a school for hundreds of black artists.
“They would stop in front of the house to listen to the opera singers rehearse,” Solomon shared. The building also served as a social hall for Black entertainers, jazz legends, and athletes like Cab Calloway, Lena Horn, and the first Black millionaire in Pittsburgh William “Woogie” Harris.
Currently, the grand Victorian-style home built in 1894 has tarp-covered windows, boarded siding, missing shingles, and a sliding foundation.
“The roof that we have, the work we have done will start to deteriorate as it has already. Now is the most critical time to get the work finished,” Solomon explained.
Solomon purchased the opera house in 2000, saving it from demolition. She began the task of restoration 25 years ago raising $3 million.
“The house was placed on the 11 most endangered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, but we were able to remove it from that endangered list by stabilizing the entire house,” she said.
But Solomon’s window of opportunity is closing.
“Stabilization doesn’t last forever, so the roof that we have, the work we have done will start to deteriorate as it has already,” Solomon said.
Experts estimate it will cost an additional $7 million to complete the project — which includes turning the third floor into a performance space, the second into art studios, and the first into a museum.
“It’s expensive and it’s difficult and it takes a lot of support to make sure we don’t lose these spaces,” Solomon said.
The City of Pittsburgh kicked off Black History Month at City Hall by honoring the legacy of Mary Cardwell Dawson and the national opera house, recognition that Solomon hopes will attract desperately needed regional and national.
“If the work isn’t completed or started in the next few months not only will we lose everything we have started at the house, but we may lose the house itself,” she explained.
Solomon shared that losing the building wouldn’t just be a loss for the Pittsburgh region but a loss for the nation, and the history it preserved.
“When the building is gone, we can’t go backward,” said Solomon.
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