Spreckels Organ Pavilion

Spreckels Organ Pavilion houses the open-air Spreckels Organ in Balboa Park, San Diego, California. The Spreckels Organ is the world's largest pipe organ in a fully outdoor venue. Constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, it is located at the corner of President's Way and Pan American Road East in the park.HistoryJohn D. Spreckels, son of sugar magnate Claus Spreckels, was one of the wealthiest residents in San Diego County. He supported the Panama-California Exposition, and during its construction, he and his brother Adolph B. Spreckels gave the organ pavilion as a gift to "the people of San Diego" and "the people of all the world" on December 31, 1914. They donated $33,500 for the organ and $66,500 for the pavilion. After Spreckels' announcement, a local orchestra performed Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld which was then followed by a 250-person chorus that sang pieces from Joseph Haydn's oratorio, The Creation.On July 27, 1915, former president Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech at the organ pavilion in front of nearly 19,000 people. He touched on topics about world peace and his desire for the United States to maintain a minimum of 200,000 military members. He also requested that San Diegans permanently keep the temporary buildings set up for the exposition. Former president William Howard Taft also spoke at the pavilion to over 7,000 people on September 16, 1915. Taft commended the city on the architecture used for the exposition buildings.