The Hanford Civic Auditorium | Photo courtesy of Rob Bentley

The City of Hanford will celebrate a milestone of its most cherished landmark this weekend, commemorating the 100th year of its Civic Auditorium with a “Century of Memories” celebration aimed at recognizing the landmark’s role in shaping the city’s identity.

The celebration will take place on Saturday, June 7, at the Civic Auditorium, located at 400 N. Douty St., in Hanford, with festivities kicking off at 7 a.m. and the final ceremony scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. The event is free to attend.

The Civic Auditorium Centennial Celebration Planning Committee spent months planning, researching and curating the auditorium’s history leading up to the event, which will feature a number of events . Guests will be invited to enjoy breakfast, an open house, car show and more, with tributes in the form of videos, historical displays, a birthday cake and a performance by the John Phillip Sousa Tribute Band.

“This building belongs to the community,” Hanford Parks and Community Services Director Brad Albert told Rob Bentley on his Hanford Insider podcast. “So, we’re very, very happy that our June 7th event is really about that, and we invite all to join us.”

The event will feature enlarged photos on display depicting the building’s history, as well as rare records removed from the cornerstones of the Civic Auditorium and nearby Veterans Memorial Building.

 

The musical tribute will feature dozens of musicians from around the Central Valley honoring Sousa’s historical performances in Hanford; Sousa’s band and the auditorium share a special connection dating back to the years immediately following the opening of the building.

“The reason why the John Philip Sousa celebration is so important in Hanford is that his band actually performed in Hanford four times,” said Bentley, who is on the event planning committee and will lead the tribute band. “They performed twice at the old Opera House, and then when the Civic Auditorium opened, they performed in January of 1926 and on Halloween 1928. John Philip Sousa actually had some really great things to say about the building.”

Sousa himself was present for all four of the performances.

In addition to the performance, the celebration will also feature a video showing the opening of both the Civic Auditorium and Veteran’s Memorial cornerstones.

“I suggested that they allow us to open that one (too) since it was actually concurrent—while the Civic was still being completed, they had started the Veterans Building,” said Randy Shaw, City of Hanford building superintendent and member of the celebration’s planning committee .

The City of Hanford expressed gratitude for its sponsors, Aria Community Health Center, Main Street Hanford, Renewable Solar, JH Tackett Marketing, Core Home Loans, the Hanford Sentinel, REMSCAPE, the Sharp Family and Purified Water & Ice.