A
familiar sight when driving past State Street on the 31-W Bypass
in Bowling Green are the two silver, half moon-shaped Quonset
Huts perched on the south bank of the Barren River along the route
of the old Dixie Highway. The larger of these two Quonset Huts
now houses the Bale Tire Center but it was originally constructed
as an entertainment venue called the Quonset Auditorium. Between
1946 and 1959 the Quonset Auditorium was known as the "Most
Happening Place in Town" to both black and white audiences
in Bowling Green and its pink neon sign marked the north end of
the city for those traveling the Dixie Highway.
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This
was one of the first big country music shows at the Quonset
Auditorium, with Bill Monroe, Bradley Kincaid and the Quonset's
house band Joe Marshall and his Rovin' Ramblers. This show
was one of the last performances of Bill Monroe with his
classic band that helped define the genre of bluegrass music.
Chubby Wise had already left Monroe's band, so he did not
perform as listed on the ad copy, but according to Tom Ewing
(2002), Flatt, Scruggs and Watts were with Monroe for about
a week after this performance. Park City Daily News 02/02/1948.
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The
Quonset Auditorium was built in 1946 by three members of the legendary
Bowling Green band Joe Marshall and his Rovin' Ramblers, brothers
Joe and Kenny Marshall and Floyd Dunn. It was originally built
as an auditorium to house the band's weekly square dances and
concerts that had previously taken place at the Armory on Chestnut
St. Joe Marshall told me that when the Armory burnt down in 1946
the three Roving Ramblers "bought a Quonset because they
were pre-fab buildings, you could put them up quick" so they
would have a permanent place to perform. The Quonset also provided
a home for the professional wrestling matches that had taken place
at the Armory. The Quonset's prime location on the route of the
Dixie Highway, at the time the only throughway between Nashville
and Louisville, and the large size of the venue contributed to
its success. In addition to the Ramblers regular concerts the
venue was soon booking large acts from out of town and packing
the 750-seat auditorium.
The
Rovin' Ramblers named their auditorium after its architectural
type known as a "Quonset Hut." The name Quonset derives
from a Navy base in Quonset Point, Rhode Island where the prefabricated
huts were manufactured during WW II. The huts were designed for
the military by the George A. Fuller Company to house troops and
equipment and to be easily assembled. Quonset Huts have a main
frame made of semi-circular steel ribs which are covered with
sheets of corrugated steel. They are placed on concrete foundations
or simply on the ground and can be easily moved or taken apart.
During the war, 170,000 Quonset Huts were produced at the Quonset
Point naval station and shipped to U.S. bases all over the world
where they endured sand, wind, rain and snow storms alike. Once
the war was over, the buildings were sold as surplus and have
endured in vernacular use not only as auditoriums, but as barns,
community centers, houses, warehouses, skating rinks and churches
just to name a few of the ways they have been reused.
The Quonset Auditorium here in Bowling Green became a roadhouse
on the regular tour routes of R & B, gospel and Grand Ole
Opry musicians in the post-WW II era when live performances were
a key part of selling records. Local audience members remember
seeing famous performers such as Ike and Tina Turner, Ray Charles,
James Brown, Little Richard, T-Bone Walker, Roy Milton, Ivory
Joe Hunter, Mahalia Jackson, Fats Domino, Ernest Tubb, Wally Fowler
and the Oakridge Quartet, Cowboy Copus, Paul Howard, Pee Wee King,
Johnny Maddox, Hank Snow, Bill Monroe and others on the small
stage in this entertainment hall.
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Professional
Wrestling was a Main Event at the Quonset Auditorium throughout
its years of operation (1947-1959). Park City Daily News
04/19/1948.
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Local
radio played a role in the success of the Quonset Auditorium as
well. The Rovin' Ramblers hosted a daily radio show on Bowling
Green's WLBJ while the Quonset Auditorium was in operation. During
their broadcast the Ramblers performed live and were able to maintain
their local fan base. They took the opportunity to announce both
their performance schedule and the headlining recording artists
whom they booked at the Quonset.
The Quonset also regularly featured professional wrestling through
the National Wrestling Alliance and eventually the Marshall brothers
began promoting wrestling themselves. Legends such as Jackie Fargo,
Andre the Giant, Gorgeous George, Farmer Jones, Ada Ash and Bambi
were among the top wrestlers of the 1940s and 1950s who competed
in matches at the Quonset Auditorium and packed the house. A rectangular
addition on the side of the Quonset can still be seen today that
was built to accommodate bleachers for viewing the wrestling.
Other bookings in the auditorium over its 13 years of operation
included roller skating, church revivals, and private parties.
University students often booked the auditorium for balls, homecomings
and fraternity and sorority events. A short-order concession at
the front of the Quonset was expanded into a small restaurant
that became a popular stop for people traveling the Dixie Highway.
The Quonset closed as a music and wrestling venue in 1959. It
was sold by the Marshall brothers who had bought Dunn out early
on and was used by its new owners first as a warehouse and later
as an automobile service station and tire store. Since 1959 the
building has undergone only minor alterations, both externally
and internally. It still has its original false front constructed
of both concrete and glass blocks. The recessed double doors at
the main entrance are framed by the glass blocks in a curvilinear
Art Moderne style popular in the 1940s. The original ticket window
is still set in the glass blocks on the left side of the double
doors and serves as a visual reminder of the building's original
function. The Quonset operated during a time of racial segregation,
and the modest African-American entrance on the side of the building
that bypassed the restaurant is also extant and reminds us of
how history has changed over the past thirty years.
Today the Quonset building serves as a local landmark because
of its distinctive silver color, half-circle shape, longevity
in this location and association with famous wrestlers and both
local and national music legends. The Quonset Auditorium was important
to both the white and black communities of Bowling Green and the
building evokes strong memories for those who remember it as the
"Most Happening Place In Town." The architectural details
of the Quonset can be interpreted and used to remind us of the
building's rich history - a history worth preserving.
Update
January 2004. From
member Robin Zeigler: The Quonset Auditorium had to be demolished
in order to clean up soil contamination. The front portion of
the property will be a part of a planned Greenways system. The
current owners are constructing a wall that will divide the greenway
from their development and that will include interpretive panels
about the history of the Auditorium. In addition, the owners have
donated funds towards the publication of a book and a documentary
about the Auditorium and are contracting for a scaled miniature
model that may be displayed on site.
Update
October 2003. From
member Robin Zeigler: The Quonset Auditorium
was demolished in mid-October, 2003, by Bowling
Green Municipal Utilities (BGMU)! Local preservationists nonethless
are encouraged by the community's new appreciation of the recent
past after their widespread effort to save the building.
An
unfortunate end to the Quonset Auditorium.
Photograph by Robin Zeigler, 2003.
