events in eastern Kansas and Lawrence: public debates, speeches, as well as town hall meetings. It wasn't until J.D. Bowersock converted the building into an opera house in 1882 that it took on the theater design it's known for today. From actual opera productions to performances by famous Vaudeville acts such as Al Jolson, the stage at the (renamed) Bowersock Opera House became home for the arts in Lawrence. It even played host to performances by notable citizens such as Forrest "Phog" Allen, who participated in the local Elk's Club's fundraising minstrel shows.
The biggest interruption in the Bowersock Opera House's 48-year run occurred in 1911 when the building burned to the ground. The building had to be completely redesigned and rebuilt. A similar setback came on September 20, 1886, when a fire ignited on the theatre's stage. However, instead of completely rebuilding the stage, contractors simply covered the remains with fresh wood. Strolling over the weathered floorboards of the current stage, Fitzgerald points to the cross-section revealed by a stairwell descending into the basement.
"You can still see where they built on top of the old stage," he says.
After the opera house went bankrupt and ran aground in 1930, the changing faces of the building became all the more apparent: from a Dickinson movie theater to the Jayhawker Theatre to a disco during the '70s to a punk rock club and even a short stint as a storage warehouse for the Hallmark company. Eventually, the building fell into obscurity.
Resurrecting the Legend
Then, in 1985, a rebirth. More than 100 years after a fire torched The Herald of Freedom, David Millstein, Susan Millstein and the late Charlie Oldfather bought Liberty Hall at a sheriff's sale to restore Liberty Hall to its former glory. Susan remembers walking into the building for the first time.
"It was a wreck," she says. "I remember walking up to where the bar is now and there was a piano sitting there with a shriveled cake on top of it. It hadn't been touched in a year."
Then, the rebuilding began. Fitzgerald was there for all of it. As part of the motley renovation crew, he helped to tear Liberty Hall apart from the bottom up. The crew replaced most everything from sheetrock to pipes to flooring. They laid palazzo-style tiling and tore down the black panels that covered the walls. And though Millstein was not there day to day, she watched the progress for months.
Fitzgerald says that the rebuild was a trying experience, but that the team was easy to motivate.
"It was a 'strip it down and build it back up' kind of job," she says. "It went from that total dark, void of life, to just lightting up."
But even in the rebuilding phase, the crew couldn't escape the building's history. While working to repair and update the video store bathroom, they discovered the stairwell blacks used to enter the theatre before it was fully integrated. For Susan, letting go of the Hall's storied past wasn't an option.
"It's a beautiful, historical community venue," she says. "It carries that history with it, but it can be anything."
"It was a labor of love," he says.
Playing Host
From the 30 or so weddings it hosts each year to the local events, such as the Victor Continental Show, to art house films, Liberty Hall has become a focal point for Lawrence culture and changes its face with every event. This concentration has even bled into KU life. The KU Law School's Pub Night has taken place in the Hall for the past 15 years. The event, a fundraiser to support Women in Law programs, includes silent and live auctions as well as performances by students and professors.
"It's been a great venue," says professor
'Everyone's played here'
Here's a list of some of the performers and speakers who have graced the stage at 644 Massachusetts Street.
Oscar Wilde, Forrest "Phog" Allen, Lewis Black, William Burroughs, Tracy Chapman, Counting Crows, Ani DiFranco, Eminem, Hanson, M.I.A., N.E.R.D., Willie Nelson, The Neville Brothers, The Police, Mickey Rooney, The Shins, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Spoon, Ike and Tina Turner, Rufus Wainwright, Wu-Tang Clan
"I've been brought to tears by many artists," he says, noting that it was a performance by punk rockers The Descendants he saw during college that tops the list of his favorites.
Richard Levy. Levy's band, The Moody Bluebooks, is a cover band composed of members of the law school faculty. Taking the stage under the lights at Liberty Hall, he says, is a surreal experience.
For Fitzgerald, it's the combination of the venue's mystiques and the talents of musicians that really affect him.
"We felt like rock stars."
Taking the Stage
Something Susan and Fitzgerald keep hearing is how much artists love playing in their house. After a recent concert, Joan Baez approached Susan to tell her how much she enjoyed playing in such an intimate venue.
It was a reserved seating concert, Susan notes, which Liberty Hall seldom schedules. But Baez just said how much she loved playing in such a cozy place.
Alternative band Guster welcomed a fan
Top: Mick Cottin, of Lawrence, works at the Liberty Hall box office.
Middle: Liberty Hall also is a video store.
Bottom: The piece "Starry Way" is featured in Liberty Hall's main hall. It reaches so high to the ceiling that parts were painted by broom.
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