Another goal for the pavilion was to provide a space for various civic and service groups to hold meetings for their organizations.
The Pavilion was never completed. A county administration building was instead chosen for the site.
A futuristic vision
Gregory Karas, chairman of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce’s special activities committee, said at the time that the pavilion’s exhibits would portray a “panorama of the greater Dayton of tomorrow.”
“The objective of the Progress Pavilion would be to stimulate a more intense interest among our citizens in the physical, educational, cultural and economic development of the community in order that we may more quickly eliminate cultural deprivation, poverty and vice,” he said.
The pavilion was proposed as a place where plans and models for improvements in the Dayton metropolitan area could be displayed to enhance public knowledge of and interest in such improvement.
“By pressing buttons, you could see the downtown renewal area change into the downtown of 1980, the Wright State campus of today turn into the university of tomorrow, the superhighway network change into the grid of 10 years from now, and so forth,” read an editorial in the Dayton Daily News at the time.
Another goal for the pavilion was to provide a space for civic and service groups to hold meetings for their organizations. Tours for school classes were envisioned.
An ordinance was passed by the Dayton city commission and signed by the mayor, Dave Hall, on Nov. 28, 1966, clearing the way for the project to get started.
The $100,000 building was to be constructed at no cost to the city. Labor and other materials were to be donated. Other costs were to be covered by public and private donations.
A simple but visually exciting design
John Head was the architect who designed the structure.
The structure was to be approximately 44 feet by 44 feet in size, and the parking lot would accommodate at least 50 cars.
A dramatic circular sloping roof topped by a 35-foot spire gave the building a unique and dramatic look.
In the evening, a huge spotlight was to be focused on the spire to accentuate the pavilion’s bold design.
Construction issues
Most of the materials and labor were being donated by members of the Dayton business community.
Construction was to begin in the fall of 1966 using an army of volunteer citizens, including skilled craftsmen, to put up the basic structure during a weekend “barn-raising.”
But it wasn’t until September of 1967 that a 600-ton concrete base foundation, including conduits for electrical wiring, a sanitary sewer and water and gas lines was poured.
By fall of 1967 the Progress Pavilion was starting to take shape. Roof beams were constructed and a volunteer force was called in to install roof paneling and wall brick on the structure.
Radio and television personalities, including Phil Donahue, provided entertainment while the work was ongoing. The Air Force band from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base also arrived to perform an afternoon concert.
The entire construction timeline was originally scheduled to take four to five months total. The roof raising was held nearly a year after work began and overall the construction was only half finished.
Work slowly continued on the pavilion over time, but supplies were running out. Construction was delayed as donated items such as heating and cooling units, lighting fixtures, framing lumber and doors were being acquired.
Progress is halted
In December 1967, Progress Pavilion promoters learned that the site would have to be vacated.
Mid-project, plans were disrupted when the city decided to use the pavilion land for the county’s downtown administration building. The architect’s plans called for an $8 million, 11-story building.
Pavilion committee chairman William Fitzpatrick said the materials would be given free to anyone who would move them and complete the pavilion.
More than 20 offers were received, and they varied from constructing a library, church, a bar and even a private home. Another proposed option involved the structure becoming part of either the YMCA or Sinclair Community College.
None of the ideas panned out.
Reluctantly admitting defeat, William Fitzpatrick, chairman of the pavilion committee, told the city commission that no new site could be found for the uncompleted building.
There were not enough funds to even store the beams and other salvageable materials.
Move to Appalachia
In October 1968, the pavilion committee approved its transfer to Robert Ziehler of Producers Oil Co., who planned to move the structure and make it into a museum of Appalachia at a location to be determined later.
In January 1969, Clarence and Marilynna Beatty were hired by Ziehler to conduct the demolition and store the materials until the right site to rebuild it was located. Their work took about a week to complete.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Dec. 29, 1969, for the County Administration Building on in the ruins of the scuttled Progress Pavilion site.
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