The city of Lille opened its great theater in 1787, where the majority of musical and singing performances were held in the city, and then the theater was destroyed in 1903; The city then decided to build a new opera house, and city authorities launched a competition to determine who would be the architect of the new Grand Theatre. Work on this neoclassical building inspired by the Opera Garnier in Paris began in 1907 and was completed by 1913.