Ford Auditorium

When the auditorium opened, it became home for the DSO and hosted conventions, pop concerts, theatrical productions and speeches.

The Jefferson Avenue and river facades were covered with a mica-flecked blue granite in a basket-weave pattern.

He delivered his "Last Message" at the First Annual Dignity Projection and Scholarship Awards ceremony despite the firebombing of his Queens, New York home by the Nation of Islam that morning.

[9] Ford Auditorium was demolished in July 2011 at a cost of $754,000 as part of the city's waterfront redesign plans.

[10] Demolition of the Ford Auditorium began on July 9, 2011 after being delayed a month because the city found more asbestos than expected.

The city donated the organ to the congregation of nearby St. Aloysius Catholic Church, which took the 2,800-pipe instrument with the goal of operating it within two years.