Alva Review-Courier -

LEADVILLE, Colo. (AP) — When mining magnate Horace Tabor decided in 1879 that the rowdy silver boomtown of Leadville needed some cultural spiffing up, he built an opera house. In just 100 days, he brought in enough wagonloads of stone, brick and iron over hair-raising mountain passes to erect the massive and elegant three-story Tabor Opera House.

The ornate performance center had all the high-brow accouterments of that era — gas lighting, ceiling frescoes, custom carpets — and magically beautiful, hand-painted curtains and stage sets.

That stage scenery, along with more pieces added in later y...