Cincinnati Memorial Hall Society

Established in 2004, the Cincinnati Memorial Hall Society (“CMHS”) is a trustee-led, non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history and enhancing Memorial Hall as a place for culture, arts and community. CMHS led the revitalization of Memorial Hall in 2012-2014 resulting in the comprehensive renovation of Memorial Hall in 2015/16 undertaken by the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (“3CDC”), CMHS and Hamilton County. CMHS provides community input for the operation and programming of Memorial Hall; co-ordinates the “Friends of Memorial Hall” support group; and provides high-quality entertainment for a diverse audience through its annual, multi-genre, contemporary music series, “The Longworth-Anderson Series”.

The Hamilton County Memorial Hall was erected in 1908 to honor the Grand Army of the Republic and Spanish-American War veterans. The building was designed by Samuel Hannaford and Sons, the same architect who designed Cincinnati’s Music Hall. Memorial Hall is the finest of Cincinnati’s Beaux Arts buildings.

Memorial Hall’s design includes typical Beaux Arts features including its symmetrical facade, monumental stairs, paired Corinthian columns outside, large round-arched window openings and statuary. Topping the columns are statues of pioneers, and soldiers and sailors from the Revolutionary through the Spanish-American War, as well as figures of Mars, the Roman God of War.
The building’s interior, with corridors finished in white marble, is beautiful and majestic. It includes a virtually unaltered performance auditorium, with excellent acoustics and audience seating for 550 in the
orchestra and balcony sections, two large reception/rehearsal rooms, office space and kitchen area. The performance hall reflects a strong sense of patriotic pride and idealism. Rows of electric light bulbs, a novelty at thetime of construction, are set in golden rosettes on the stage’s proscenium arch. Inscribed between the rows are words of ethical living: patriotism, wisdom, integrity and will. Above the stage is a mural of an eagle holding an American flag.

Memorial Hall is located in Cincinnati's historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood which was originally settled in the mid 1800’s. Over-the-Rhine is undergoing a revitalization which is bringing new residents and new life to the neighborhood in the form of new restaurants, shops and other developments such as the recent completion of an award-winning building for Cincinnati's School for the Creative and Performing Arts and a new $17 million theater under construction for the Shakespeare Company located just one block from Memorial Hall.

Listed on the National Registry of Historical Places in 1978, Memorial Hall is located adjacent to Cincinnati's 134-year-old Music Hall, the “home” of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Opera and Cincinnati May Festival.

These four treasured Cincinnati cultural and performing arts
institutions – Music Hall, the School for the Creative and Performing Arts, the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and Memorial Hall – border Washington Park dedicated in 1861. This eight acre urban park received a $48 million renovation completed in
mid-summer 2012.