Now in its 100th year, Memorial Auditorium has long been a place for community entertainment. According to General Manager Darcie Shultz, it will continue to be that, while also serving the community in new ways.
The facility’s two main spaces are the convention center in the lower level and the auditorium. The convention center is commonly used for private parties and events such as the City of Pittsburg’s State of the City Address and the Kiwanis Club’s annual Pancake Breakfast. The auditorium is used by several community and school drama groups, and hosts touring shows.
When Shultz became the general manager in October of 2024, she wanted to begin partnering with organizations to help bring additional entertainment to Pittsburg. For example, the auditorium hosted one of the concerts during the Hispanic Music Festival in September, and in March they are partnering with the Pittsburg Public Library to host a show for local school kids.
“It was about creating equitable access to the arts,” Shultz said. “Just general awareness and kind of bringing a new life to the space in its 100th year.”
Moving forward, Shultz also hopes to utilize more of the auditorium’s spaces. This was accomplished with the Hispanic Music Festival concert, which used the north lawn, and then in February the lower level will be used for a murder mystery-themed dinner.
“We’re just kind of broadening the scope of events and what spaces we can use,” Shultz said.
The concert in September is an example of Shultz’s favorite type of event hosted at the auditorium. According to her, the group who performed, Making Movies, uses their platform for arts mentorship and outreach, which she felt fit within both the festival and the auditorium’s mission.
“I've always been very rooted in community outreach,” she said. “So those are my favorite events, and anything where we're involving local youth that will be the next generation. They're going to be the ones that inherit this and continue on with it, and so you have to build that foundation of a connection for them.”
Several upcoming events will involve local youth. 39 dancers will perform with a touring production of The Nutcracker on Dec. 12, and the auditorium will be hosting a young artists showcase next year.
Memorial Auditorium’s history
The building was home to the Mirza Shriners when it first opened in 1925. Even then, it was a place for the community to enjoy entertainment, with live music, vaudeville and other major shows. The auditorium was also equipped with two movie projectors.
The City of Pittsburg bought the building when the Shriners moved to a new space in the 1940s. By the early 1980s, discussions had started to decide if Memorial Auditorium should be torn down or renovated.
The Pittsburg Area Arts and Crafts Association (PAACA) and Pittsburg Community Theatre (PCT) lobbied for it to be renovated. Former PCT board president Joella Reid Skyles credits Beverly Corcoran, the head of PAACA at the time, as a “tour de force” in getting the city to consider restoration. The art gallery in Memorial Auditorium is named for Corcoran.
“She was into historical preservation,” Skyles said. “She had come from back east, and she had been heavily involved back there in historical preservation. She loved Pittsburg because it was so full of historical buildings, Memorial (Auditorium) among them.”
PAACA and PCT then had to convince voters to pass a sales tax that would pay for the renovation. They were again successful, and the renovation was completed in 1985.
Prior to it being upgraded, the lower level of the building was a garage for the city vehicles, so events like the Kiwanis Club’s Pancake Breakfast were held in the auditorium.
“(People) would get their plates of food, they would sit in the auditorium chairs and then the performers, because they've always had performers, would perform on the stage behind the grills,” Skyles said.
The renovation in 1985 also upgraded the auditorium’s lighting and sound system. Skyles called the old equipment antique, and said the improvements were wonderful.
“I'm happy to say that the City of Pittsburg, the management teams that have come on after and the technical staff have kept it that way,” she said. “They've upgraded the sound and lighting a great deal since those first days, and it's still a wonderful space.”
Copyright 2025 KRPS. To see more, visit Four States Public Radio.
