Grand Opera House Wilmington

Delaware's Grand Lodge of Masons raised this building on Market Street in 1871 and gave it a double life: a Masonic temple above, a public auditorium below. Thomas Dixon of Baltimore designed the Second Empire front, cast in iron and carrying an Eye of Providence in its central pediment. The house ended its long decline as a cinema in 1967; a non-profit trust took it on, reopened it in 1971 and completed the restoration by 1976. Its 1,208 seats now serve the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, OperaDelaware and First State Ballet Theatre.