Joplin's Memorial Hall

   The citizens of Joplin (MO) recently voted down a proposal to renovate Memorial Hall, located at the corner of 8th and Wall. I no longer live inside the city limits and was, therefore, ineligible to vote on the issue. Had I been able to vote, I probably would have voted for the proposal. The folks who were pushing the proposal to renovate the old building are now left to contemplate their next step, and the structure might even have to end up being torn down. If so, I would hate to see it go, not just because of the fact that it was built as a patriotic tribute to veterans of the region, both living and dead, but also because of a certain sentimental attachment I have to the place. I've attended a number of events there over the years, including quite a few music concerts featuring performers like Willie Nelson, Chicago, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and B.J. Thomas. Most recently my wife and I saw Rhonda Vincent there four or five years ago, but I guess the place has deteriorated now to the point that it is not being used for much of anything.
   The idea of a building to memorialize Joplin's veterans was first bandied about shortly after World War I. With the local American Legion spearheading the effort, the idea was finally adopted by the city and plans to build the structure put into action in 1924. Local architect Alfred S. Michaelis designed the hall, and contractor A. S. Greenwell was engaged to built it at a cost of $250,000. An old school building on the site, encompassing almost the entire block between Joplin and Wall streets and Eight and Ninth streets, was torn down to make way for the project, and construction work on the new building began on August 4, 1924. Plans called for the auditorium of the two-and-a-half story structure to seat slightly over 4,000 people.
   The building was completed in the fall of 1925, but not before Michaelis, the architect, was ironically killed in a fall from the structure a few weeks before it was finished. Dedication ceremonies for Memorial Hall were held on October 18. About two thousand people turned out for the occasion. Speakers at the event included the Missouri state American Legion commander; Mercer Arnold, a prominent Joplin attorney who was also a veteran of the Spanish-American War; and A. J. P. Barnes, a Civil War veteran.