About the Downtown Center
Miami Hamilton's Downtown Center is located at 221 High Street, Hamilton in the historic Robinson-Schwenn Building. Click any photo to view full-size historical photographs of the location.
Built in 1866, the building was originally home to the Dixon (and for many years, Globe) Opera House. Before its opera house period, it became home to at least three department stores, the longest tenure being fifty seven years as the Robinson-Schwenn Department Store.
The property is listed on the national registry of historic places. (Historic photographs used by permission and with thanks to the Hamilton Community Foundation. Thanks also to Hamilton Lane Public Library for research assistance.)
Miami Hamilton Downtown is a multi-use center for civic engagement and the arts, offering an array of programs including live music, art displays, theatrical performances, educational classes and lectures, and a convenient venue for scholarship activities and community meetings.
In the words of Miami Hamilton Campus Dean, Dr. Daniel Hall, “Civic engagement means that all parties are engaged and everyone is working together toward a common goal. It’s more than just giving somebody something they need and walking away. The university and the community come as equals into the space, and the intention is to enrich the life of the campus and the community,” he said.
“We want this to be a center for community-based activities, a location where the university in tandem with the community will engage in serious discussions about economic, political, and social issues of the day.”
The first floor space is shared between Miami Hamilton and The Cappuccino Depot.
