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A trip through Downtown Champaign reveals the community's history and future in one quick glimpse. In the foreground stands the New Orpheum Theater, which is now home to the local children's museum but opened in 1914 as a premier spot for live theater and the early days of film. Designed as a scale model of the opera house at Versailles, the New Orpheum hosted legendary performers Will Rogers (1915), the Marx Brothers (1918), Jack Benny (1922), Harry Houdini (1923), Bob Hope (1928), and Burns & Allen (1929). Across Neil Street from the New Orpheum, the final touches are going on the M2 building, which represents the new urban plan for the downtown area. At nine stories, it's the tallest downtown building and mixes lower-floor retail and office space with 51 higher-floor residential condo units.