Look to your right for a big, pale-brick block of a building with a wide, columned entrance canopy and the words “Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium” across the front.
You’re standing beside one of Chattanooga’s great “we built it to last” statements. This auditorium went up in the early 1920s, built from 1922 to 1924 by contractor John Parks, with a price tag of about $700,000 back then… which is roughly $13 million in today’s money. That’s a lot of bricks and a lot of civic pride. Architect R. H. Hunt designed it-same guy who gave Chattanooga the Tivoli Theatre-so yes, the city was on a bit of a glamorous streak.
But this place wasn’t built just for glitz. It was meant as a public thank-you note to local veterans of World War I, written in masonry and echo. Inside are actually two theaters: the big downstairs Memorial Auditorium with nearly 3,900 seats, and the smaller Walker Theatre upstairs with about 850-plus a basement hall where trade shows can do their very un-theatrical thing.
By the 1960s, the building got pretty rough around the edges, closing in 1965 and reopening after repairs. Then it shut again in 1988 for a major restoration-over $7 million at the time, around $19 million today-before reopening in 1991.
And the stories? Oh, they’ve got range. In 1975, a legal fight over the musical Hair went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Nothing says “community auditorium” like constitutional law. That same year, Kiss played their first show here as a headline act-so, wigs, guitars, and court rulings… a very Chattanooga combo.
One more gem: the historic pipe organ, dating back to the building’s early days, was lovingly restored over 21 years and rededicated in 2007. Patience is a virtue… especially in organ restoration.
When you’re set, the Chattanooga State Office Building is a 4-minute walk heading southeast, and it’ll be on your right.
