Richwood Town Hall / Opera House Work – Richwood OH

Description

The municipal building at 101 S. Franklin St. in Richwood, Ohio has seen many functions over the years and was the site of New Deal work relief efforts during the Great Depression.

Est. in 1890 to function as the seat of the Village Government, house the police force and jail, house the fire department, and an Opera House.
From 1933 to 1935 the building was gutted as part of Project B-1618 of the Civil Works Administration and Project 80-B4-4 of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. The local government stayed in place, an addition was built to house the fire department, the Opera House was moved to the ground floor and became a motion picture theater as well, and the police were moved to a different part of the Village. The space that was previously the Opera House became an Athletic Hall, complete with locker rooms and a gymnasium.
In 1957, the theater was closed, and the fire department took over the space for much needed room for expansion in 1962. The Village offices were also updated at this time and the Police Department moved back in.
At some point
In the late 1990’s, the Village government moved to another building in the Village.
In 2001 the Fire Department moved into a new facility elsewhere in the Village.
In 2009, the Police Department moved into a different facility with the local government. Since then, the building has only been used for cold storage.