large theater which had previously been poorly maintained for decades. The company's failure left the theater dark and without funds to maintain it. Unheated, the building fell prey to extensive water damage, severely damaging the electrical system and the decorative plaster interior of the auditorium. The company's costumes, collected for decades and stored under the damaged roof, were lost. In 1996, the former opera company relinquished ownership of the building. Mayor Thomas Menino, with the aid of Senator Edward Kennedy (whose father, Joseph, was the first owner), helped to get the theater landmark status in 1999 through the Boston Landmarks Commission. After a series of failed or delayed development proposals, the Clear Channel Company agreed to renovate the theater. The need to enlarge the trapezoidal stage house into the street between buildings provoked a multi-year court fight with the neighboring Tremont on the Commons condominium building, whose concerns with fire safety were eventually overcome with the persuasion of Mayor Menino. The Boston opera community welcomed the efforts of Mayor Menino and Clear Channel to refurbish the Opera House and the damaged interior was restored in a $38 million renovation. It reopened on July 16, 2004, with the Broadway production of The Lion King. Clear Channel kept the historic theater busy and active with long runs of touring Broadway musicals and pop concerts. While its agreement with city included a clause that opera be produced at least two weeks a year, no opera company has yet returned to make the Opera House its home. The current owner of the theater is Boston Opera House Ventures, LLC, a partnership of local Boston businessmen Don Law and David Mugar. Its primary tenants are Broadway Across America, Boston Uprising and the Boston Ballet. Home to Boston Ballet's annual production of The Nutcracker since 2005, the theater became the company's permanent home in 2009. See also Boston Opera House (1909) Benjamin Franklin Keith (1846–1914), namesake of B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre RKO Boston Theatre References External links Boston Opera House website Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey. B. F. Keith Memorial Theatre, 539 Washington Street, Boston, Suffolk County, MA (i.e. Boston Opera House) Bostonian Society: Photo of Washington Street at night in winter, 1934 539–555 Washington Street, ca. 1945 164–164a Tremont Street, ca. 1950 (RKO Keith Theater at left) 504–558 Washington Street, ca. 1953 515–539 Washington Street, ca. 1958 MIT: Washington Street, Between Avery Street