The once magnificent Orpheum Theatre, built in an elaborate Spanish Baroque style in 1929, was underutilized and in serious disrepair when the city of
Phoenix courageously purchased it in 1984. Shortly thereafter, the Junior League of
Phoenix spearheaded a community effort to retain the architectural and historical integrity of the last historic theater in downtown Phoenix and helped place the Orpheum on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. An $11.4 million restoration, funded through city bond funds authorized by Phoenix voters in 1988 and private sector donations, transformed the theater into a technically modern, but architecturally and historically preserved, 1,400-seat venue for performing arts, community and civic events as well as a location for visitor and convention use in the heart of downtown Phoenix. The Orpheum can accommodate local, regional and national touring productions, performance companies and nonprofit performing art groups.
