For 50 years, starting in 1842, the city used the theater built at the expense of Count Stanisław Skarbek. At the end of the 19th century, a commission convened by the city council made the decision that the theater hall was unsuitable and that they needed to build a new theater. After long discussions, the site for the building was chosen: the Holuchowski Square at its intersection with Hetmanskie Vala. The construction of the theater was supposed to change the appearance of the square and ennoble it.

In 1895, a competition for their best theater design was announced. The construction advisor and director of the Industrial School, Zygmunt Gorgolewski, won the competition. Ivan Levynsky's architectural and construction firm began construction work in mid-1897, and in October 1900 completed it, handing over to the city the key to a theater built for 2,000 spectators. The construction of the Bolshoi Theater, The Opera, the City Theater, one of the most beautiful buildings in the city, cost 2,500,000 crowns or 500,000 dollars. With its construction, the old square ceased to exist. The theater completely filled the square, the adjacent buildings were refurbished, and the flower beds were planted in front of the theater. The theater was visible from afar, from the beginning of Hetmanskie Vali on Pl. Mariacka, it closed the avenue du teatre. The building surface was 3,000 sq. m. Its modest basement contrasts with the richly ornamented upper part.

A series of photographs by a still unknown author captures all stages of the theater's construction, the clearly organized work of skilled Lviv craftsmen. The image shows the construction of the theater dome.