New Dorton Arena construction photographs acquired and digitized in Special Collections

Thanks to a recent donation from Fayetteville architect and NC State graduate Dan MacMillan, Special Collections now has 73 new photographs of the Dorton Arena that were taken during its construction, circa 1951. During the time in which these photographs were taken, Dan MacMillan worked as a project engineer for Muirhead Construction on Raleigh’s Dorton Arena. The photographs that he donated include snapshots of famous visitors to the construction site such as Mies van der Rohe . Also included are photographs of some of the laborers who worked on the site.

These materials are all a part of a new collection donated by Dan MacMillan , the MacMillan and MacMillan Architectural Papers . They include original drawings of important modernist architectural projects in Fayetteville.

Dan MacMillan and his brother, Frank MacMillan, founded Dan MacMillan Architect and Associates in Fayetteville in 1952. They renamed the firm MacMillan and MacMillan after Frank received his license. They were joined for several years by Mason Hicks (MacMillan, Hicks, and MacMillan) before Hicks left in 1960 to found his own firm. From 1968-1970, the MacMillans joined with Shawcroft and Thames to form MacMillan, MacMillan, Shawcroft and Thames. After the foursome split, Dan and Frank continued as a duo until Frank’s death in 1991. At this time, Dan MacMillan sold the business to George Ellinwood. He worked for a few more years before retiring and returning to Fayetteville.

MacMillan collaborated in several instances with landscape architect Richard C. “Dick” Bell . Among their most well-known collaborations were the Charles E. Kistler-Dell Hollstein House in Fayetteville, NC, which was destroyed in 2005, and the William S. and Mary Jane Ward Residence, a U-shaped home in Raleigh, NC, built on 3.4 acres over a stream.

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