We have a "volunteer" architect who is working diligently on recreating the drawings of the beautiful Hamilton Theater and NCO Club Building with renderings of our new ideas. The above photo was located along the way of how clean and well maintained this old theater was - 30 years ago. We also found in the Library of Congress, some really interesting documents showing the original purpose and design of these buildings: Hamilton Theater and Hamilton NCO Club.

Hamilton Theater

Built in 1938, the Hamilton Theater is a charming, 320-seat, Spanish-styled theater that served the armed forces that were stationed at Hamilton Field. The Theatre building has cast-in-place Churrigueresque concrete medallion serving as attic vent - and is a very unique design effect to this structure, and other buildings in the Hamilton Field area. Churrigueresque refers to a Spanish Baroque style of elaborate sculptural architectural ornament which emerged as a manner of stucco decoration in Spain in the late 17th century and was used up to about 1750, marked by extreme, expressive and florid decorative detailing, normally found above the entrance on the main facade of a building.

The Hamilton Theater is an original structure, erected at the beginning of Hamilton Field’s pre-World War II development. The Theater was in operation as late as 1994 and has a newer cinema screen. The building itself has become the symbol of the new Hamilton Field community. The War Department or Base Theater, when completed, cost $54,387.24. 

NCO Club

In 1939, The construction costs for this over 17,550 sq ft 2 story building totalled $33,338.81. During its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s, the NCO Club was a major social center. Fran Kretz, stationed here during World War II, was with the medical staff and worked in the NCO Club. She recalled the anguish of young men losing their pay checks in poker games and to the slot machines at the club. She and her husband, Ray, also related that this club was nicer than the officers' club, more elaborately decorated, with more bands, dances, and events. This was attributed to the fact that there were more NCOs than officers, increasing the revenue of the club {Kretz 1993).

Question to Our Audience

Does anyone know what happened to this building? We cannot find any information on what happened to this building. Only its foundation is left to witness its existence.