Pretzinger
Encyclopedia
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
s and engineers in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. Albert Pretzinger (born February 28, 1863) started the family's architectural legacy.
In 1892 he was with Peters, Burns & Pretzinger. He established his own firm Albert Pretzinger Architect by 1906. He was part of Pretzinger & Musselman in 1913 and Pretzinger & Pretzinger in 1928. The firm became Freeman A. Pretzinger Architect in 1941 before switching to Pretzinger and Pretzinger by 1962, and Pretzinger and Pretzinger Architects and Engineers in 1968. In 1980 the firm became Robert B. Pretzinger, Consulting Engineer, changing in 1982 to Pretzinger and Klenke, Inc. Consulting Engineers. After Thomas Klenke retired in the mid-1990s, the firm's name reverted to Robert B. Pretzinger, Consulting Engineer. The firm closed in 2010 with the death of Robert Pretzinger.
Colonial Theater, Dayton
Albert Pretzinger's work included the Colonial Theater (later the RKO Colonial Theatre) on Ludlow Street. It featured premium reserve balcony seating, twenty individual dressing rooms, and two chorus rooms. Showings changed from vaudevilleVaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
to movies, and then western movies and burlesque shows as management sought to capture a profitable audience. The 1,800 seat theater hosted Dayton's first "talkies" on September 22, 1928 with showings of "Lights of New York
Lights of New York (1928 film)
Lights of New York was the first all-talking feature film, released by Warner Brothers and directed by Bryan Foy. The film, which cost only $23,000 to produce, grossed over $1,000,000. It was also the first film to define the crime genre...
" bringing in the throngs. The theater had its own chorus, the Colonialettes, and a band during its prime, and acts who took the stage included the Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
, Jimmy Durante
Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
, and Ozzie & Harriet.
In 1930, the Colonial became part of RKO and started showing second-run and B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
s. By 1964 the theater was sold to St. John's Lutheran Church and was demolished to build a new church.
Records from the Pretzinger firms were donated to Wright State University
Wright State University
Wright State University is a comprehensive public university with strong doctoral, research, and undergraduate programs, rated among the 260 Best National Universities listed in the annual "America's Best Colleges" rankings by U.S. News and World Report. Wright State is located in Fairborn, Ohio,...
by Robert Pretzinger in 1994.
Projects
- Rudolph Pretzinger HouseRudolph Pretzinger HouseThe Rudolph Pretzinger House is a historic structure at 908 S. Main St in Dayton, Ohio. It was designed by architect Albert Pretzinger, and added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 24, 1979....
, 908 S. Main St, Dayton - Duncarrick Mansion, an example of American provincial architecture with Tudor detail. Designed by Peters, Burns and Pretzinger and listed on the NRHP. Birthplace and lifelong residence of Katharine Kennedy Brown (1891–1986), daughter of Grafton C. Kennedy. Brown began her political activities in 1920, shortly after women won suffrageSuffrageSuffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
, and served as Ohio's RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
national Committeewoman from 1932 through 1968. - First Lutheran ChurchFirst Lutheran Church (Dayton, Ohio)The First Lutheran Church is a historic Lutheran church located at 138 West First Street in Dayton, Ohio, United States. On March 29, 1983, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The building was designed by Peters, Burns, & Pretzinger....
, 138 West First Street, designed by Peters, Burns, & Pretzinger in Dayton, Ohio. The Late Gothic Revival church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. - RKO Colonial Theatre (1912), an 1810 seat theater at 141 S. Ludlow Street Dayton, Ohio (demolished)
- "Commercial Building"Commercial Building (Dayton, Ohio)The Commercial Building built is 1908 is an historic skyscraper located at 44 South Ludlow Street in Dayton, Ohio. It was designed by architects Peters, Burns and Pretzinger.On December 2, 1982, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places....
, designed by Peters, Burns and Pretzinger in Dayton, Ohio (1908), added to the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
(NHRP) in 1982. - Dayton Fire Station No. 14Dayton Fire Station No. 14Dayton Fire Station No. 14 is an historic structure at 1422 N. Main St. in Dayton, Ohio. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 27, 1980. It was designed by the Peters, Burns & Pretzinger firm....
at 1422 N. Main St., designed by Peters, Burns & Pretzinger in Dayton, Ohio. Mission/Spanish Revival style building added to the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1980. - Springfield High SchoolSouth High School (Springfield, Ohio)South High School, formerly Springfield High School, is a building that housed a public high school in Springfield, Ohio. It was one of two high schools in the Springfield City Schools district, the other school being North High School....
(1909–1911), a Beaux Arts style building designed by Albert Pretzinger - Dayton Daily News BuildingDayton Daily News BuildingThe Dayton Daily News Building is an historic structure located at the corner of 4th and Ludlow Streets in Dayton, Ohio. It was designed by architect Albert Pretzinger.On November 30, 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places....
at the corner of 4th and Ludlow Streets in Dayton, OhioDayton, OhioDayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, designed by Albert Pretzinger. Added to the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
1978. - University of Dayton ArenaUniversity of Dayton ArenaUniversity of Dayton Arena is a 13,455-seat multi-purpose arena in Dayton, Ohio. The arena opened in 1969. It is home to the University of Dayton Flyers basketball teams....
, Pretzinger and Pretzinger Architects and Engineers (1969) - Reibold BuildingReibold BuildingThe Reibold Building in Dayton, Ohio was the area's tallest from 1896 until 1904 ....
in Dayton, Ohio. Peters Burns and Pretzinger are credited as architects as well as Dayton native Charles Insco WilliamsCharles Insco WilliamsCharles Insco Williams was an artist and architect in Dayton, Ohio.-Biography:He was born on December 12, 1853 to Mary Forman and John Insco Williams. His father seems to have been an accomplished painter. At sixteen he moved with his parents to Cincinnati and graduated from the Chickering... - Adam Schantz buildings, in Dayton, Ohio