NCR Auditorium served the Dayton community well for 67 years

Except for the old Montgomery County Courthouse, many people feel that no building has touched the lives of so many Dayton area people as the NCR Auditorium.

It was the center many community and company activities.

The “NCR Hall of Industrial Education” is what they called the building when it opened in 1912.

More than 20 years later, the name was changed to “The NCR Schoolhouse.”

It was much more than a schoolhouse, Col. Edward A. Deeds believed. So in 1938, Deeds, NCR company’s president and chairman of the board, decided the NCR Schoolhouse on South Main Street just south of Stewart Street should be renamed NCR Auditorium.

The building served as a haven for victims of the 1913 Flood, and later as a meeting place for organization of the Miami Conservancy District, which made the Dayton area safe from flooding.

The building stood for 67 years until it was razed early in 1980.

Commencement ceremonies

With its six, 30-foot-tall Grecian columns, the stately structure, which was designed by the New York architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White primarily for NCR education programs, never had the look or the feel of a schoolhouse.

However, for thousands of Dayton-area high school graduates who received diplomas in commencement ceremonies there from 1924 through 1977, NCR’s special landmark left lasting memories.

The Stivers High School class of 1924 was the first class to hold commencement ceremonies there; the Kettering College of Medical Arts class of 1977, the last.

Seating capacity

The building was expanded several times over the years.

The building originally seated 450 when it opened in 1912.

In 1913, NCR added the pillared portico and expanded seating to 1,200.

A third addition in 1922 increased seating capacity to 2,274.

In 1933, the first air conditioning system was installed.

Movies and entertainment

Movies in the auditorium were a tradition that began in the 1920s, during the days of John H. Patterson.

Movies were played at noon each day for employees to enjoy during their lunch breaks.

For more than 40 years, thousands of children attended Saturday morning cartoons, movies and other entertainments there.

The movies were temporarily discontinued during the Great Depression and World War II, but resumed in 1945. In 1962, declining attendance was given as the reason for ending the series as a regular activity.

Besides Saturday movies and class commencement ceremonies, the auditorium was a primary site for company and civic meetings and Community Chest rallies.

On the air

In February 1955, a segment of The Steve Allen Show, a forerunner of NBC-TV’s Tonight Show, originated from the stage of the NCR Auditorium.

A 90-minute show arranged by WLW-D and featuring Allen, Dayton comedian Jonathan Winters and singers Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, aired nationwide at 11 p.m. from Dayton.

The Ruth Lyons Show was broadcast from the auditorium in May 1955. Band leader Horace Heidt performed there in 1941. Fred Waring brought his famed Pennsylvanians to NCR’s auditorium for a concert, and radio newscaster Lowell Thomas spoke there.

Civic Music Association

The memories of the concerts staged there for nearly three decades for the Civic Music Association audiences are part of the legacy of NCR.

The non-profit Civic Series began in 1940. The plan was to set up a budget based on membership fees and book touring ensembles and soloists within that budget, based on 2,500 season memberships.

An average season included the National Symphony of Washington, Metropolitan Opera soprano Roberta Peters, one of the Met’s leading tenors (Cesare Valetti) and a piano trio made up of Luboshutz and Nemenoff joined by Boris Goldovsky.

Lukas Foss, a conductor, composer and pianist, led a performance by the Buffalo Philharmonic in 1965. Both the Cincinnati Symphony and the Indianapolis Symphony also were included in the Civic Series.

Because of NCR’s contribution of the “free hall,” it was possible to continue to sell membership tickets for a five-concert series in 1940-41 for $5. But the years and rising costs took their toll.

In 1968 the decision was made to disband the association when it became apparent that subscriptions were not doing well enough to support the series.

Demolition

In the early 1970s, the building was in need of renovation, and NCR approached the city of Dayton, Montgomery County and non-government agencies to inquire if any would be interested in saving the building.

NCR offered to donate it to the University of Dayton, Montgomery County, the city, the Dayton Board of Education and the Dayton Philharmonic.

However, none could afford the estimated $1 million to $2 million renovation costs plus the cost of more than $250,000 for new heating and air-conditioning equipment as well as the $100,000 annual upkeep.

Even if the auditorium were converted for general use, including theatrical productions and entertainment programs, the facility would have been in competition with Memorial Hall, the Dayton Convention Center, and could have seriously undermined the community’s effort to preserve and maintain the historic downtown Victory Theater.

Despite some public outcry for saving it, demolition of the 67-year-old building began in November 1979 and was completed by February 1980.

The huge pipe organ, a fixture in NCR’s auditorium 56 years, was donated to the Victory Theatre, now the Victoria Theatre, in 1978.