The B.G. Danis Company broke ground for the UD Fieldhouse on April 28, 1949 with the cornerstone being laid in late 1949. The building was completed in the spring of 1950.
The building was dedicated the following fall and served as the UD Flyers men’s basketball teams’ home court from 1950 to 1969. The original building was 175x170 ft., five stories tall, and had an estimated cost of $600,000. The main arena had a seating capacity of 2,700. In 1991, the Fieldhouse was renovated and rededicated as Frericks Center in memory of longtime Athletic Director, Tom Frericks. The Fieldhouse, now known as the Frericks Center, is still in use today and is home to the Flyer volleyball team.
- 1949 – Hoyne Flower Shop
The Hoyne Family operated two funeral homes in the Dayton area. In 1949, the Hoynes contracted the B.G. Danis Co. to build a flower shop on the same block as their Third Street funeral home. At the time, this was a customary practice to streamline the process of providing floral arrangements for funeral services. In the early 1980s, Hoyne Funeral Homes were purchased by Tobias Funeral Homes.
- 1947 – American Legion Post 165
The Miamisburg American Legion Post 165 was established in 1919 following WWI. In 1947, the new building was likely constructed to meet growing membership after WWII. Approximately 1,000 people from the greater Miamisburg community served in the war. Post 165 maintains a membership of approximately 1,000 members and actively supports the community and VA Medical Center.
The mechanical engineering facility was built using the skeleton of an old Army barracks building that was donated to UD by the U.S. Government after WWII. Moved from Camp Perry in Williamsburg, Virginia, the old barracks were erected on the East end of Campus, near the current Student Union. The building was demolished in 2009 and the area became part of an outdoor, central mall that includes an amphitheater.
- UD Mechanical Engineering – Cost to Build
In 1949, it cost $250,000 to complete the building. In 2016, 67 years later, it would cost $2,489,675 for the same building.
- UD Mechanical Engineering – Where we are Today
The building was demolished in 2009 due to its age and the cost of maintenance and repairs. The area where it stood is now part of a large, outdoor mall.
- UD Mechanical Engineering – Talking Points
The frame of the mechanical engineering building was built using the wooden trusses of the old Army barracks, donated after WWII.
Danis became a successful, second generation company in the 1940s. Eventually, both Charles Danis and B.G. Danis Jr. joined their father to beat the odds and grow the company.
After graduating from Cornell in 1937, Charles Danis came back to work with his father in Dayton. Soon after the United States entered WWII, Charles joined the Army Corp of Engineers. Charles continued with the Army until a Danis attorney requested a hardship discharge. Charles was released from his service by the War Department to return to Dayton and run the family company while B.G. recovered from a heart attack. At the time, Danis was completing critical work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Charles served as VP and General Manager until 1966.
- 1946 – Elder and Johnston Warehouse
Arthur Beerman worked for Elder & Johnston Department Stores before striking out on his own to form the Beerman group of stores. They merged with Elder & Johnston in 1962 to become Elder-Beerman. This warehouse addition was used for Elder-Beerman furniture storage. The building is still in use and has been converted to the St. Vincent DePaul Hotel Gateway Shelter for women and children.
- 1947 – Tecumseh Elementary School
Located in Xenia, Ohio, Danis completed the Tecumseh Elementary School in 1947. The school was used an elementary school until 2013, at which time the Xenia school district opened five new elementary school buildings. As it would have been too costly to renovate the older buildings, the district chose to build new schools. The new Tecumseh Elementary is on the site of the original on Springfield Pike.
Founded in Dayton in 1912, Duriron experienced rapid growth throughout WWI due to high demand for its denitrating towers.
The denitrating towers allowed for safe handling of extremely corrosive materials used in explosive production. As a result of increased demand, the workforce expanded from 150 to 1,500 employees. After WWI, Duriron adjusted to produce more general chemical processing equipment. During WWII, more than half of production was devoted to providing materials for production of Plutonium and Uranium for the Manhattan Project. Danis increased the size of the main plant by 20,000 sq. ft. and completed several auxiliary buildings.
- 1946 – The White Baking Company
The White Baking Co. provided daily, home delivery service of fresh bakery products. Danis constructed a garage for the Bakery’s fleet of delivery trucks, which were still horse drawn.
- 1941 – Terminal Cold Storage
Located on Eaker Street in Dayton, this is a cold and dry warehousing service provider for food processors and distributors that is still in operation today. Danis also built the 1945 addition.
- 1947 – Ohio Bell Exchange
Cleveland Telephone Company started in the 1870s. By the late 1940s, over 600,000 people used their phone service. Danis built the Akron exchange; a human operated telephone switchboard.
