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Home > Blogs > Dale Huffman: From the Heart > Archives > 2010 > January > 26
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Memorial Hall: Heart, soul and treasured memories
Just a month ago I featured a story quoting a number of Miami Valley residents who were wishing and praying that Memorial Hall in Dayton would not be razed.
Now it has been announced by county officials that the historic building, along with the old Montgomery County Court House will be kept in place, and will be open again to the public. Final details on how the buildings will be used are pending. But they are not to be torn down.
That is very happy news for many area residents who shared memories of Memorial Hall in that earlier column, and I now offer some of those stories, which take on new importance in the afterglow of the news of the day.
Since it is “Memorial Hall” and the original purpose was to honor veterans, Jake Dailey, a retired employee at the Veteran’s Administration Center in Dayton, and a former Marine active in veteran affairs is “excited, and very pleased” that the hall has been saved, along with the statuary, paintings, marble pillars, and cannons outside.
“We should never destroy any monument to our veterans,” Dailey said. “The right thing is being done here.”
Another group of Daytonians who are happy with the news are the thousands of high school graduates who walked down the aisles of Memorial Hall and picked up diplomas there.
“On June 10, 1986 I was presented my diploma when I graduated from Dunbar High School at Memorial Hall,” said Melissa Mills, program director for DATV (Dayton Access Television). “Later,” Mills added, “I waited outside on the large steps in front of the hall to meet up with my mother. She gave me a hug and we posed for pictures. It was a great day in my life. I have always had hopes that the historic structure would be saved.”
The hall brings back floods of memories for many Miami Valley residents.
Lillian Cox Newton of Moraine said she has many memories of the hall. “I got to see Loretta Lynn and Merle Haggard and many stars there,” she said. “I would sit in the balcony and I loved it.”
Memorial Hall is where, as a Jefferson Elementary student, that Joan Eisenstodt said she learned to appreciate good music. “As students were were brought there to enjoy the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra,” she said. “I saw Carol Channing there in ‘Hello Dolly’. “
Eisenstodt added, “I also remember that my ballet teachers, the Schwarz sisters, staged beautiful ballet on that stage.”
The fabled Kenley Players called Memorial Hall home for over two decades and brought summer theater to thousands of Miami Valley residents.
Jeanette Patton and her husband Jim often attended Kenley plays, and they have an unusual memory. “It happened on May 5, 1967, when we were at Memorial Hall to enjoy the play known as ‘The Odd Couple’ which starred George Gobel and Phil Foster,” Jeannette said. “During the play a bat kept flying around the set. The actors were getting distracted. So Phil got a pillow and he whacked the bat. He then turned to the audience and announced, ‘It did its duty ‘til God called him home.’ “
Ross Ward, an engineer at Miami Valley Hospital, remembers seeing a number of rock bands perform at the old hall in the 1980s and 1990s. “I found it to be an awesome place to hear live music,” Ward said. “The acoustics were tremendous.”
So, for many Miami Valley residents, who had faced the bad news that one favorite and historic building after another has bitten the dust is recent years, it is good news that this historical real estate, that carries heart, soul, and treasured memories will be kept around for another generation to enjoy and talk about.
