Dayton's role in atomic bomb project could go unnoted

How to go

What: A public hearing on a National Park Service plan for developing a national historical park devoted to the Manhattan Project.

When: Two sessions today from 3 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m.

Where: Wright- Dunbar Interpretive Center, 16 S. Williams St.

Information: Call the park service office at (937) 225-7705

DAYTON — In the race to build an atomic bomb during World War II, recent evidence shows both Germany and Japan were further along in their research than historians had previously thought.

However, neither country achieved what America’s Manhattan Project succeeded in doing in Dayton — the creation of a safe, reliable trigger for detonating the bomb.

Even so, a two-year National Park Service study released early this month does not recommend including Dayton in a national historical park devoted to the Manhattan Project.

Dayton area residents will have a chance to voice their reaction to that study at a public hearing today, Jan. 28. Local heritage leaders already are expressing theirs.

“I think it’s unfair to the Dayton community,” said Tony Sculimbrene, executive director of the Dayton Aviation Heritage Alliance.

“That bomb would have never gone off without the work done in Dayton,” said Dick Flitcraft, president of the Mound Museum Association.

Dayton was one of four sites under consideration for a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The others were Los Alamos, N.M.; Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Hanford, Wash.

Citing cost constraints, the study recommended a single site for the national park at Los Alamos, where the Manhattan Project was headquartered.

Congress can still be pushed to overrule the park service and recognize Dayton as an additional national park site, said Brady Kress, chief executive of Dayton History.

Two Dayton sites associated with the Manhattan Project still exist — the storage buildings surrounding the former Bonebrake Theological Seminary, 1601 W. First St., and the General Electric Supply Warehouse, 601 E. Third St.

Two others have been torn down — the original Monsanto research lab at 1515 Nicholas Road and the former Runnymede Playhouse in Oakwood.

Even without national recognition, local heritage leaders have plans for telling the story of Dayton’s crucial role in the Manhattan Project. The new wing under construction at Carillon Historical Park will include Dayton’s contributions to World War II, including the atomic bomb triggers, Kress said.

The few remaining pieces of local equipment from the Manhattan Project, along with hundreds of photos, are part of the collection of the Mound Museum Association. Officials there say they are working with Dayton History and the Dayton Aviation Heritage Alliance on the best way to display those items.