Hundreds of spectators seated around the partially constructed building and looking down from a perch above watched as a block of sandstone attached to heavy chains was carefully lowered over a time capsule by four men.
The new buidling replaced the original museum which opened in 1919 in a house at the corner of Monument and St. Clair streets.
This historic photograph documenting the event was taken just before the time capsule was enshrined. Tucked inside is a historical account “of Dayton’s chief organization for the promotion of art from June 21, 1912 to May 21, 1928,” according to a story in the Dayton Herald.
Carnell, who donated nearly $2 million to construct the new museum on the condition the community would pay for its operations, spread the mortar, which sealed the cornerstone in place.
The completed 60,000 square foot museum was dedicated to great fanfare Jan. 7, 1930.
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