Venue: Temple of Music
Town: Buffalo, US

The Temple of Music was a concert hall and auditorium built for the Pan-American Exposition which was held in Buffalo, New York in 1901. United States President William McKinley was shot inside the building on September 6, 1901 by Leon Czolgosz. The structure, like most of the other buildings at the exposition, was demolished when the fair ended. The Temple of Music was designed by architects August Esenwein and James A. Johnson for the Pan-American Exhibition, to serve as a concert hall and ceremonial stage. It was built at a cost of $85,000 (over $2,800,000 in 2022 dollars). It was an eclectic combination of various architectural elements. Its major influence was the Italian Renaissance style, and it complied with the Exposition's Board of Architects' overall plan for the exhibition, called the Free Renaissance style. Like most of the major structures at this World Fair, the Temple of Music was extensively electrified, both internally and externally. The Temple's dome rose 180 feet (54.86 m) above the ground floor and the hall itself had seating for over 2,000 people. According to Chuck LaChiusa, a Buffalo native and retired City Honors English teacher, "The building was colored in light yellows, with gold and red trimmings, and the panels in the dome were in light blue, producing an extremely beautiful effect." Four ornate sculptures, representing sacred music, lyric music, music of the dance, and heroic music, executed by Isodore Konti, graced the four entrance portals into the building. The Temple's appeal lay in its spacious interior and new use of lighting. Although the exterior was a great sight, the interior was also impressive. The Temple of Music had seating for over 2,000 people and possessed a pipe organ of 52 ranks built by Emmons Howard & Son. The organ was built for St. Louis Roman Catholic Church in Buffalo, but at the end of the exposition, it was found to be physically too big to be installed there. Buffalo businessman J. N Adams bought it and had