LEAD, S.D. - A century ago, this Black Hills town was the second-largest city in South Dakota, and soon, people would be treated regularly to opera, ballet, plays, concerts and vaudeville acts in the ornate Homestake Opera House.

Built in 1914, the Opera House flourished for 70 years as a cornerstone of community life.

Now, the Homestake gold mine, which lured rough-and-tumble miners, gamblers and loggers and fueled the frenetic growth of Lead in the late 1800s, is closed. And fire nearly destroyed the opera house 23 years ago.

But it may again become the city's crown jewel, thanks to volunteers and lots of donations.

"Lead is a constantly changing place, where a lot of original people have moved out and a lot of new people have moved in," Mayor Tom Nelson says. "They have no history here. They have no idea about the Opera House and what it was."

Along with a 1,000-seat theater, the Opera House featured a recreation center with a firing range, indoor pool, bowling alley, billiards and library - all free to the public.

Nelson, a Lead native, remembers learning to swim there as a boy in the 1960s. Now as mayor, Nelson is excited by the prospect of restoring and reopening the Opera House.

The project is estimated to cost $7 million. About $3 million has been received so far in grants and donations, and efforts to get the remainder continue.

The Opera House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is designated a National Landmark of American Music.

It was conceived by Phoebe Apperson Hearst, whose husband developed the legendary Homestake mine, and Thomas J. Grier, then superintendent of the gold mine that once was the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

Homestake donated the building to the city in 1972, but an April 1984 fire caved in the roof and caused extensive damage.

In November 1984, Lead residents voted to save the building, but it sat empty for years. A 1995 inspection determined the brick walls were still solid and the structure could be rebuilt.

Restoration began in 2004, and O'Grady says the goal is to reopen the Opera House on Jan. 1, 2010. Progress depends on the amount of money that becomes available, but much has already been accomplished, he says.