Sandwich City Hall & Opera House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been since 1979.

The construction was funded by a bond issue of $10,000 approved by the mayor and city aldermen in Sandwich.

It featured shows of all types, vaudevillian, Shakespearean, lectures, Women's Christian Temperance Union meetings, recitals, high school plays and graduations, church gatherings, firemen's ball and many other events.

[2] A community group was responsible for Sandwich City Hall's placement on the National Register in 1979.

A few years later in 1982 the group, the Association to Restore City Hall, was given tax-exempt status and received a grant of nearly $1.3 million from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs in 1983.

Other areas to be restored and renovated included the foyers, the main entrance, the original walnut staircase on the west side of the building and a custom made stairway for the east are of the second floor was constructed.

[3] When the restoration was completed in 1986 the city of Sandwich held a rededication ceremony that was attended by several state level political officials including then Lieutenant Governor George H. Ryan.