Beckwith Building relics displayed at Museum at SMC

Posted: 2/4/2010

Most longtime Dowagiac residents fondly recall the old Beckwith Memorial Building and consider it, ‘the one that got away.’ The building was torn down in 1966, but the Museum at Southwestern Michigan College is currently displaying many original architectural features of the building. The rarely seen artifacts can be viewed in the exhibit, “The Lure of Leisure: Lakes, Theaters and Sports.”

The Beckwith Memorial Building opened to great fanfare in 1893. Named for P.D. Beckwith, founder of the Round Oak Stove Company, the three-story Romanesque building on the corner of South Front and Beeson streets featured tall arches, busts of famous artists, composers and authors, beautifully cut stones, one-of-a-kind stained glass windows and a world-class theater.

In addition to the theater, the building housed the Lee State Bank, Dowagiac Post Office, a millinery shop and Round Oak’s offices. The Dowagiac City Council had its chambers inside the building as an outcome of negotiations with the Beckwith and Lee families that resulted in no property taxes for the building for 30 years.

After a successful opening in January 1893, theater patrons in Dowagiac dwindled and the theater eventually turned to vaudeville and movies to fill its seats. The building remained an integral part of Dowagiac’s landscape for 70 years. Looming over its neighbors, in later years it housed the Wigwam restaurant, the Dowagiac Police Department and a pool hall. After years of little use, the building was razed in 1966.

Beckwith’s family spared no expenses in building it. Luckily, some residents saved some of the pieces before the wrecking ball took it down. SMC has long had several of the original busts in the pillars outside the Dale Lyons Building, but now the Museum at SMC has many rarely or never-before-seen artifacts on display. The exhibit includes the stone busts of George Eliot and George Sand, two light fixtures, the time capsule placed in the cornerstone in 1892 and some of its contents, and two leaded stained glass windows from the lobby.

Steve Arseneau, museum director, believes the light fixtures, busts and the stained glass windows have not been displayed since the Museum opened in 1993.

“The stained glass looks especially impressive. Tom Caskey did a great job creating the framework to make them stand out,” said Arseneau of museum staff member who built the framework. “I looked at images we have of the Beckwith Building and found one of the windows above the entrance to the Lee State Bank. I believe the other window would have also been in the lobby foyer.”

The Museum at Southwestern Michigan College is dedicated to preserving the history of the college district. Museum hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. Admission is free.

The photo shown above is of the Beckwith Memorial Building in Dowagiac taken shortly after it opened in 1893. The Museum at Southwestern Michigan College currently has on display many original architectural features of the building.