Mabel Tainter Theater
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Mabel Tainter Memorial Building
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| Location | 205 Main St. Menomonie, Wisconsin |
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| Coordinates | 44°52′36″N 91°55′41″W / 44.87667°N 91.92806°WCoordinates: 44°52′36″N 91°55′41″W / 44.87667°N 91.92806°W |
| Built | 1889 |
| Architect | Harvey Ellis |
| Architectural style | Romanesque |
| NRHP reference # | 74000083 |
| Added to NRHP | 1974 |
The Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts, originally named the Mabel Tainter Memorial Building and also known as the Mabel Tainter Theater, is a historic landmark in Menomonie, Wisconsin, and is registered on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The building was commissioned by Captain and Mrs. Andrew Tainter (whose son's house, the Louis Smith Tainter House, is also on the National Register), to honor their late daughter Mabel Tainter, who died in 1886 at age 19. The lumber baron's daughter had enjoyed music and the arts, so the building was designed to serve those areas and no expense was spared by the parents. Designed by Harvey Ellis in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, the building was completed in 1889.
The Mabel Tainter Memorial Building, which cost approximately $125,000, was donated by Captain and Mrs. Tainter to the private Mabel Tainter Literary, Library and Education Society to own and manage the building. As stated at the time, "In accordance with her wish, the father and mother have felt the fittest monument to the dear dead is a contribution to the welfare of the living."
The building was dedicated on July 3, 1890, with a ceremony in the building's theater. Featured guests were Captain and Mrs. Tainter, Menomonie's mayor and common council, and the president of the Mabel Tainter Literary, Library and Education Society, L. S. Tainter, a brother of the late Mabel. The presentation address was given by Rev. H. D. Maxson, a Unitarian minister who had been instrumental in working with the Tainter family in developing the idea for the building. The trust was accepted by S, W, Hunt, and the dedicatory address was delivered by Rev. J. H. Crocker of Madison, Wisconsin.
Until Captain Tainter's death in 1899, he provided the funds to cover the operating costs of the building. At his death, he established an endowment fund of $65,000 for the society. By 1925, the endowment had grown to $105,000 through legacies left by other members of the Tainter family and other individuals.
The exterior stone is Dunnville sandstone quarried from along the Red Cedar River about six miles south of town. Ellis used Moorish influences in addition to the Richardsonian Romanesque style that guided most of his work. The interior contains hand-stenciled walls and ceilings, marble staircase and floors, stained glass windows, four fireplaces, brass fixtures and walnut and oak woodwork. The building still has its original Steere and Turner pipe organ, with a total of 1597 pipes and 28 stops; originally water-powered, it was eventually converted to electric power and completely restored. The building included both an ornate 313-seat theater and a reading room.
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