Located a near Dixon Avenue and Runnymede Road, a contemporary home stands on the former site of the Runnymede Playhouse, a building that played a unique part in the City of Oakwood’s history. Originally part of the Talbott family estate, Runnymede Playhouse was first a social and entertainment center for the Oakwood community. During World War II, the playhouse was used as a facility for research and refinement of polonium bomb triggers.
Harry Talbott was one of the founders of the Dayton Metal Products Company and the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company. A civil engineer, he was one of OakwoodÂ’s first residents and became OakwoodÂ’s first mayor. Following his death in 1921, his wife, Katherine Houk Talbott, remained prominent in DaytonÂ’s social and cultural life. In 1927, she had the Runnymede Playhouse, a glass-topped structure large enough for 1200 women to play bridge, built on the family’s property in west Oakwood. The Runnymede Playhouse was used for community functions such as graduations, dances, and meetings as well as serving as an entertainment venue for the Talbott family. The complex included indoor tennis and squash courts as well as a ballroom and stage.
In the 1940s, Dr. Charles Allen Thomas, an engineer who had married into the Talbott family, assisted the Monsanto Chemical Company in procuring a lease on Runnymede Playhouse. He promised his mother-in-law, Katherine Talbott, that heÂ’d return the playhouse in the same condition. The playhouse was used to conduct research into polonium, an element used in the production of atomic weapons. Polonium forms part of the bombsÂ’ triggers and is still a part of atomic weapon construction.
Known as Unit IV, the Runnymede Playhouse was one of five facilities around Dayton involved in nuclear bomb research. Nearly 90 people worked at Unit IV. Oral histories state that big trucks rolled in and out, and floodlights and heavy duty power lines were strung around the property. In 1949, operations moved to Miamisburg, and the following year the Runnymede Playhouse was demolished.
The structure and ground were transported to Tennessee for safe burial. In 1998, The Ohio EPA working with the Ohio Department of Health determined that no immediate health risks are posed by the site.
