I’ve previously written about the major Downtown Dayton urban renewal project that cleared just about all of a 4-city-block area just east of Main between 4th and 5th (the only exception was the old DP&L Power House which is now soon to be razed for a new police station).
In an older article I showed a then and now of 5th Street around Main looking east. Today we will zoom in from there on the south side of Fifth just across the intersection with Main.
At the corner was the Pruden Block, a mid-Victorian style structure which was built in 1878 and said to be “the first major commercial building of extensive size in Dayton.”
Next to it was the Gebhart Building (to the left in the image below), which originally opened as the Gebhart Opera House all the way back in 1877. It later known as the Park, Lyric and Mayfair Theater, which in 1950 became a burlesque theater until it closed in 1968.
Its original status as an opera house and later as a variety of different theaters gives it a distinct similarity to the Victoria Theatre, also including their major mid-20th century struggles.
But unlike the venerable Main Street venue that is still a key part of Dayton’s performing arts scene, this grand theater is of course no more.
Both the Pruden and Gebhart Buildings, and many more around them, were demolished and this block is today occupied by the Dayton Convention Center.
The Gebhart Building (Gebhart Opera House, Park, Lyric, Mayfair Theater)
Below you can see a close-up look at the Gebhart Building.
Just out of frame at the top (and faintly visible in the zoomed-out image above) was a notable statue depicting the Goddess of Liberty, later referred to as the Mayfair Lady.
Even though the building is long-gone, the statue survives. It was donated to the Dayton Art Institute and today resides at Carillon Historical Park in the building housing the carousel, having been moved in 2011.
This wasn’t the only Gebhart Building in Dayton. The theater was an extravagant project of William F. Gebhart, a successful Dayton businessman who had made his money in the galvanized sheet metal industry.
Below you can see an 1875 lithograph of a Gebhart Building that was located at East Third and St. Clair Streets in the area today known as the Fire Blocks.
A variety of tenants are visible, including the Sachs and Pruden drug store, S. T. and G. A. Gebhart (dealers in iron, steel, axles, and springs) and our W. F. Gebhart who is advertised at that time as a manufacturer of “galvanized iron, cornices and building trimmings, (and) slate and tin roofing.”
Beyond that you’ll also find references to linseed and flour mills in the Gebhart family.
It does not appear that any of these structures connected to this prominent Dayton family still stand, however.
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