Arcanum Preservation Society
Arcanum Preservation Society is a 501(c)3 organization started in 2019 to restore the Historic Arcanum Town Hall and Opera House located in Arcanum, Ohio (Darke County). The building, abandoned in 2017 due to a bat infestation, was built in 1889 as a joint venture between the Village of Arcanum and Twin Township. The building housed administrative offices for both as well as the Arcanum Fire Department, jail cells for the local constable and an opera house on the 2nd and 3rd floors (balcony). The opera house ceased operations in the 1920's when a new high school was built in town offering a more modern event venue. The constable was eventually replaced by the Arcanum Police Department and they took over the space previously used by the fire department when they moved to a location better able to accommodate modern equipment. The 2nd floor auditorium of the opera house was renovated to include a false ceiling in the 1930's to turn it into a meeting space for first the American Legion, then the VFW and most recently the Lion's Club. In recent years it was used as storage. When the Village decided to build a new building rather than renovate/restore the current building, local citizens formed the Arcanum Preservation Society to ensure the historic heart of the Village was not lost. Their vision is to restore it as well as other historic buildings in town for future generations.
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