Spreckels Temple of Music

The Spreckels Temple of Music stands as an ornate, Italian Renaissance style monument at the western end of the Music Concourse. Built of Colusa sandstone, it was commissioned as a gift to the city by the sugar magnate Claus Spreckels in 1900. His son, Adolph, who served as a park commissioner, successfully persuaded his father to fund the project, which was intended to provide a permanent, uplifting stage where music could be rendered free to all. At its dedication on California Admission Day in 1900, the event drew a crowd of thirty thousand people to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the state joining the Union.