Editing Grand Ledge, Michigan (section)

=== Opera house ===
The increase in tourism and interest in roller skating led J. McPeek and Edgar Marvin to open the Riverside Rink on August 15, 1884. McPeek and Marvin went on to sell their shares to Peter Blake in early 1886. Blake commissioned artists and craftsmen to transform the space into an opera house. Blake bought the “Old Grange Hall” and moved it to the opera house, combining the structures to open “Sackett’s Opera House” on May 12, 1886. The Mackley-Salisbury Comedy Company was the opera house’s first feature act.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=The Grand Ledge Opera House |url=https://glhistoricalsociety.org/opera-house/ |access-date=March 15, 2025 |website=Grand Ledge Historical Society}}</ref> The opera house went on to show early silent films, host talent shows, vaudeville acts, and athletic contests.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blake's Opera House |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=122824 |access-date=March 15, 2025 |website=The Historical Marker Database}}</ref> 

In 1928 the opera house was converted into a furniture store owned by Stephens Furniture and later Mapes Furniture. In 1976, the Bicentennial Committee used the space as their headquarters naming it “Heritage Hall”. In 1984 the Mapes family donated the building to the Grand Ledge Historical Society. <ref name=":1" />

The main floor houses an antique Barton Theatre organ which was originally housed in the [[Strand Theatre and Arcade|Michigan Theatre]] in [[Lansing, Michigan]]. The organ relocation and restoration was a partnership between the Lansing Theatre Organ Guild and The Opera House Authority. <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Scott |last2=VanSteenkiste |first2=Dorothy |date=September-October 1991 |title=Pipes and Personality |url=https://journals.shareok.org/theatreorgan/ojs/theatreorgan/article/view/4610/4589 |journal=Theatre Organ: Journal of the American Theatre Organ Society |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=18-19}}</ref> The Opera House is now operated as a space for weddings, receptions, and community events. <ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.gloperahouse.com/about_us.php |access-date=March 15, 2025 |website=The Opera House Grand Ledge}}</ref>