Finger Lakes history · regional story
Developing historyBefore the Smith’s starry ceiling, a construction dispute
Accounts from both sides of the Smith’s 1930 renovation survive in its historian’s research. They do not agree about the delays.
Research status
This history is still developing.
Parts of this account remain unresolved. Here is what the sources support, what is uncertain, and what we are looking for next.
About this review. Written and source-checked with AI assistance under an owner-authorized editorial process. This is not a personal review by Riley or an independent historian. Sources and unresolved questions are listed below; corrections are welcome.
- What the records establish
- The published research documents disagreement during the renovation. The later restoration deliberately drew on two different periods of the building’s life.
- What remains uncertain
- We have read Woodworth’s account, not the original correspondence or construction files. No responsibility for the delays is assigned here, and the full sequence of design revisions remains to be reconstructed.
- What we are researching next
- Request the October 1930 letters and meeting record, the November 17 construction memo and the 1990 Historic Structure Report cited by Woodworth. Compare the Ithaca and Geneva commissions without assuming that either copied the other.
The starry interior had a difficult construction season behind it. Chris Woodworth’s history for the Smith traces the 1930 renovation through correspondence preserved in the theater’s archives. The architect was Victor Rigaumont, whom Woodworth also connects to Ithaca’s State Theatre. SMITH HISTORY BLOG: Victor Rigaumont, Architect.
In an October 16 letter, construction representative Henry H. Lenz blamed missing information and the architect’s lack of attention. Rigaumont’s October 25 response blamed supervision and shortages of workers and materials. These are competing accounts, not a verdict on who caused the trouble. SMITH HISTORY BLOG: Victor Rigaumont, Architect.
Woodworth says the intended January 1931 opening became a March reopening as Schine’s Geneva Theatre. The theater’s own overview puts that transformation within a longer history: the original opera house opened in 1894, and the restoration begun in 1994 aimed for an 1894 exterior with a 1931 interior. SMITH HISTORY BLOG: Victor Rigaumont, Architect; Opera House History.
Sources
- SMITH HISTORY BLOG: Victor Rigaumont, Architect — Chris Woodworth; September 30, 2019. Locator: Article paragraphs on March 1931 opening;October 16/24/25, 1930 correspondence;November 17 memo;Works Cited. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Opera House History — Smith Center for the Arts; Not stated. Locator: The Smith Opera House History:October 29, 1894 opening and 1994 restoration goal paragraphs. Accessed October 22, 2026.