The cover of this book doesn't do it justice.

A few years back, I visited Decorah, Iowa, when several artists participated in a city-wide artists' event. Some of the artists had their booths in the Hotel Winneshiek.

I had never been in that hotel, and I was in for a surprise. It turns out that the Steyer's Opera House is located inside. Beautifully restored, the opera house is impressive.

That's why this book caught my eye.

The Opera Houses of Iowa is written by George Glenn, a UNI professor, and Richard Poole, an associate professor at Briar Cliff College. These two traveled across the state with a camera and a tape measure looking for the remains of opera houses. Some of their experiences that they write about are rather disgusting: crawling through boarded up buildings that are now only home to rats, bats, and pigeons (and you know what that means).

They write that there was a time when "a town in Iowa could not be called civilized unless it could advertise programs in its very own opera house." Opera houses held all types of entertainment: big city productions, sermons, talent shows, roller skating, and dancing.

In the back of the book, the authors list all the known opera houses in Iowa. Believe it or not, there were over 1,000 throughout the years. For Waterloo, there were six, and Cedar Falls, seven.

The Opera Houses of Iowa will appeal to lovers of old buildings and history buffs.

It can be found on the second floor, under the call number 792.5 GLE

c Waterloo Public Library 2007