Wheeler Opera House Honors Its 130 Year Legacy With A New Venue Name

Ahead of the start of their Summer Series, Sunset Sessions, the Wheeler Opera House unveils their new name for the (former) Wheeler Bar Lobby - The Vault. The event space is home to the free Sunset Session series, as well as various concerts and events throughout the year, following the 2015/16 renovation. The name was chosen from several community suggestions collected over the past months and is also available for year-round community rental events.

When Jerome Wheeler opened the (now historic) Wheeler Opera House in 1889, he also had a thriving banking business, infusing cash into various mines among other things. The Wheeler Bank occupied the choice corner position of the building at the corner of Hyman Avenue and Mill Street. If you look closely, you can still see the word "BANK" above the entry door to the Aspen Public House restaurant.

The second floor housed the bank offices, tellers and the actual vault. "I'm excited that the chosen name for the space relates to the history of the space itself, and truly honors the legacy of this historic building. The bank vault remained partially intact through the 1980s, 90s and 2000s, as the back bar and storage area. As we renovated the space in 2015, it was fully disassembled, brick by brick," explains Wheeler Opera House Executive Director Gena Buhler. "The Vault door still remains in the space and is on display in the second-floor event space. In addition, a second wheeled vault unit is on display in the box office lobby on the street level. This vault still has functioning doors and drawers and is always a fun element to have on display, especially to see as children try to open the very heavy vault exterior door."

For additional information about the history of the Wheeler Opera House and/or The Vault at the Wheeler, please visit our website at wheeleroperahouse.com.

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