Downtown Dayton has an eclectic choice of sports bars, raves, lounges, pubs, musical bars, and holes in the wall. Most of the nightlife is concentrated near the Oregon District, Fire Blocks District, and around the Ballpark (Webster Station). It is home to over 70 nightclubs and over 130 restaurants/bars. Not far from the Oregon District is the PNC Second Street Market a public market owned by Five Rivers MetroParks.ĭowntown Dayton is considered one of Ohio's best nightlife districts. The district is populated with art galleries, specialty shops, pubs, nightclubs, and coffee houses. The Oregon District is a historic residential and commercial district in southeast downtown Dayton. Additionally, Dayton is home to the Gem City Ballet and Progressive Dance Theater, companies in residence at the Pontecorvo Ballet Studio.
It is the only ballet school in the Miami Valley associated with a professional dance company. The Company runs the Dayton Ballet School, the oldest dance school in Dayton and one of the oldest in the country. ĭowntown Dayton is the home of the Dayton Ballet, one of the oldest professional dance companies in the United States.
The Loft Theatre, also located downtown, is the home of the Human Race Theatre Company. The historic Victoria Theatre, located in downtown Dayton, hosts concerts, traveling Broadway shows, ballet, a summertime classic film series, and more. In addition to Philharmonic and Opera performances, the Schuster Center hosts concerts, lectures, traveling Broadway shows, and is a popular spot for weddings, and other events. The Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center in downtown Dayton is a world-class performing arts center and the home venue of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Dayton Opera, and the Dayton Ballet. The Dayton Region ranked 33rd in the nation out of 373 metropolitan areas in arts and culture. Along with the Dayton Art Institute, there are also other arts in the downtown area. The Dayton Art Institute was rated one of the top 10 best art museums in the United States for children. Downtown is home to the Dayton Art Institute which is a museum of fine arts that owns collections containing more than 20,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of art and archaeological history. Entertainment Įntertainment in the downtown Dayton area is diverse. UD is also home to the University of Dayton Research Institute which ranks second in the nation for sponsored research, and the Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering at Dayton which focuses on human tissue regeneration. It is Ohio's largest private university and is one of the top 10 Catholic universities in the United States. The University of Dayton is a private, Catholic institution. Sinclair was founded as the YMCA college in 1887. Sinclair is acclaimed as one of the country's best community colleges. Sinclair community college is the largest community college at a single location in Ohio and one of the largest community colleges in the nation. We spent about two hours in all at these two sites and gained a greater knowledge and respect for the achievements of these two “dreamers and doers.” From there, we headed to Carillon Historical Park next (see separate review), which also contains a Wright brothers museum.Īdmission here was free, as was onsite parking.Downtown is home to Sinclair Community College and the University of Dayton. It was great to see the actual site where the Wright brothers began pursuing their dream of aviation while manufacturing bicycles in earnest. On the second floor is a small area containing the Parachute Museum.Īfter touring the museum, the NPS ranger on duty in the Visitor Center escorted us to the adjacent bicycle shop to see the items there (currently, visitors must stop in at the Aviation Trail Visitor Center to be brought over there). Exhibits also cover personal information about them, i.e., Orville & Wilbur’s upbringing, as well as their early professions as printers and then bicycles manufacturers. The museum is filled with well-done exhibits depicting the background of the Wright brothers’ advancements in aviation. Our tour at the Interpretive Center began with an interesting 30-minute-long film about the Wright brothers and their accomplishments (this film, “On Great White Wings,” is also available for viewing at the NPS website.) Williams St., two units of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. We recently visited the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and then the adjacent Wright Cycle Company shop, both on S.