Spreckels Organ Pavilion, San Diego

The Spreckels Organ Pavilion, located in Balboa Park, San Diego, is home to the magnificent Spreckels Organ, the largest outdoor pipe organ in the world. Built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, it can be found at the intersection of President's Way and Pan American Road East within the park.

The architect Harrison Albright, who had previously designed the U.S. Grant Hotel in downtown San Diego, was chosen by Spreckels to design the organ pavilion. The semicircular pavilion, featuring an ornate Italian Renaissance design, was built by the F. Wurster Construction Company. In 1935, the stage size was doubled and a fountain inspired by one in Mexico City was added.

The Spreckels Organ, also known as the Austin Organs, was built in 1915 with 3,400 pipes. It had four manuals, a pedal keyboard, and a 20-horsepower blower. Many of the gilded pipes were decorative, hiding the working pipes. Today, the organ has 80 ranks and 5,017 pipes after expansions. It faces north to protect the pipes from sunlight, so the audience faces south.

Every Sunday at 2:00 pm, the Spreckels Organ Pavilion hosts free organ concerts, generously sponsored by the San Diego Parks and Recreation Department, the Spreckels Organ Society, and private donations.

In summer, the Spreckels Organ Society presents the Spreckels Summer International Organ Festival on Mondays. "Twilight in the Park" offers popular concerts on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. December Nights' celebration also happens on the Spreckels stage. Additionally, the San Diego Community Christmas Center arranges nativity scene displays in the pavilion during Christmas.