Civic Auditorium in for Some Changes

 

Your Civic Auditorium

It was always the most aptly named of Kingsport’s municipal buildings: The Civic Auditorium. It was truly a civic center, home to so many different activities, from proms to industrial league basketball games to weeklong preaching missions.

And now the Depression-era building is in for some changes. As reported by Times-News education reporter Rick Wagner this morning, the Kingsport Board of Education “has approved a memorandum of understanding for its takeover of the Civic Auditorium, which will be utilized mostly by the school system. Voting, event rentals and parks and recreation use of the facility are to continue as scheduling constraints permit.”

What will that mean? Nobody knows. The Civic Auditorium is right at Dobyns-Bennett’s front door. Classes may be held there. The main auditorium has been home to many basketball games over the years. It would be perfect for gym classes, especially while construction continues on the D-B Dome.

Over the 83 years of its existence the Civic Auditorium has been home to professional wrestling, golden gloves boxing, rock and roll concerts, gospel shows, country jamborees.  

"Classy Freddie" Blassie, later star of a Cyndi Lauper video, wrestled in Kingsport in 1955.

Count Basie and his orchestra performed there, as did the big bands of Erskine Hawkins, Duke Ellington and Tommy Dorsey.

The most famous performer was probably Elvis, who played there on Sept. 22, 1955 as the middle act of a country show headlined by Cowboy Copas.

 

Jerry Lee Lewis was booked to play the Civic Auditorium on July 24, 1968 on a double bill with Conway Twitty. There were two shows scheduled for that night, one at 8 p.m. and a second at 10.

Jerry Lee was the headliner. Conway was the opening act even though both were equally big stars at the time.

Jim Sauceman told me about the show; his brother-in-law, the late Tiny Day, was the promoter.

“Conway was always late. Jerry Lee’s bus came in the parking lot about 2 p.m. Conway called about 6 p.m. and said he wasn’t going to make it on time. Tiny took the message to Jerry Lee, who said, ‘Killer don’t open for anybody.’”

Killer is Jerry Lee’s nickname. He pretty much gave it to himself. When he was a kid, he called all his buddies “Killer” so they started calling him “Killer.” It stuck and years later it would become even more appropriate but that’s a story for another day.

When Jerry Lee told Tiny that he would not open the show, Tiny replied, “To get your money, you’ll open.”

Jerry Lee hit the stage at 8 p.m. sharp.

 

Rock legend Chuck Berry performed at the Civic Auditorium on November 22, 1960.

Chuck had learned early the lessons of the road. Al Wilkes told me that Chuck had had problems throughout his career being ripped off by promoters so he began taking a proactive approach. According to Al, when he played the Kingsport Civic Auditorium, Chuck dressed up in disguise - glasses, a wig and a hat - and sold tickets at the door. Not a soul recognized him! Chuck kept his eyes – and his hands – on his money.

 

There was a famous Scat Cats concert at the Civic Auditorium in 1965: a fight broke out and people scattered everywhere, even the band members. Except for drummer Donnie Flack. Jim Beck, who was at the show, remembers, “Everybody was running and he just kept playing.” Donnie shrugged it off to me years later. It was just his Symphony to a Knife Fight.

 

The first Miss Kingsport Pageant was held there on July 9, 1954. The winner, Dottie Teter Slaughter, told me years later that they didn't have a runway, just a bunch of tables placed end to end and she had to walk down that in high heels!

The Kiwanis Kapers moved from the Strand Theatre to the Civic Auditorium in 1941 and continued there till the Kapers ended in 1977.

I learned Ballroom Dancing – it’s still debatable whether I really learned - when I took lessons in the Teen Center in the winter of 1959.

My 7^th Grade Prom at Robinson – RNRJHS – was held at the Civic Auditorium. The Frolics were held there after every home football game.

And my 60th Birthday Party, Dance and Hula Hoop Competition was held in the main auditorium – the same place where Elvis had performed 52 years earlier in 2007. Over 300 people wandered in and out during my party.

But the heart and soul of the Civic Auditorium was always its local events: wedding showers, bridge tournaments, fashion shows.

My friend Margy Clark and her tennis group were playing tennis in the main auditorium during the winters up until the pandemic. (Margy would have been 90 during the last year of her tennis group; her fellow group members were her age.)

The breadth of activities that could occur at the Civic Auditorium during one week in its heyday was breathtaking.

Take for example the Civic Auditorium Schedule for the Week of January 31, 1955, as published every week in the Kingsport Times-News:

Monday

Basketball Games in Main Auditorium.

National Guard Vs. Mead - 6:30.

Munal Clinic Vs. Fashion Beauty Shop - 7:45.

Boys' Club Vs. W. B. Greene - 9:00.

Table Tennis League in Game Room.

Young Republican Club in Club Room 5.

AAUW in Party Room.

Tuesday

National Guard Drill in Main Auditorium.

Teen Dance Class in Game Room.

D.A.R. Meeting in Corner Room.

Wednesday

Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament in Main Auditorium.

Teen Dance Class in Game Room.

Chess Club in Corner Room.

Thursday

Audubon Screen Tour in Main Auditorium.

Hooked Rug Making in Club Rooms.

District Committee Boy Scouts in Corner Room.

Girl Scout Meeting in Party Room.

 

Boxing in one area, Teens learning ballroom dancing in a second and the Chess Club meeting in a third.

What a great civic auditorium!