Morris Performing Arts Center

History

The Morris Performing Arts Center at 211 N. Michigan St. in South Bend opened Nov. 2, 1922 as the Palace Theatre, a Spanish Renaissance Revival vaudeville house in the Orpheum chain. Philanthropist Ella Morris bought it in 1959 when demolition was planned and sold it to the city for $1; it was the Morris Civic Auditorium until a 1998–2000 restoration reopened it as the 2,564-seat Morris Performing Arts Center. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and is home to the South Bend Symphony Orchestra.