{"nrhp_refnum":"89001235","name":"Kleinhans Music Hall","other_names":["See Also: Allentown Historic District"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Symphony Circle","address_restricted":false,"city":"Buffalo","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.90177418650006,"lon":-78.88333983568518,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-06-29","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1989-06-30","areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Kleinhans Music Hall is an International Style concert hall on a triangular 4.2-acre site at Symphony Circle in Buffalo, Erie County, New York, built 1938-1940 to designs by Eliel and Eero Saarinen.","why_significant":"The hall is presented as one of the finest works of the Saarinen firm, showing the growing influence of the younger Eero Saarinen and Eliel's integrated design principles. Its auditorium shapes, acoustics and lighting were worked out together with specialist consultants. It was endowed by a bequest from Edward L. Kleinhans and built with a federal Public Works grant. The form treats it as nationally significant.","narrative":"Kleinhans Music Hall is a concert hall on a triangular site at Symphony Circle in Buffalo, set on one of the landscaped circles from the Olmsted and Vaux park plan. Built between 1938 and 1940, it was designed by Eliel and Eero Saarinen, with the Buffalo firm of F.J. and W.A. Kidd supervising construction. A steel-frame building with brick and limestone walls under a flat roof, it holds a main auditorium seating about 3,000, a Chamber Music Hall for about 800, and a rehearsal room. Its form follows acoustic and lighting needs worked out with consultants Charles Potwin and Stanley McCandless. Furniture was designed by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen. Funding came from the estate of clothing merchant Edward L. Kleinhans, in memory of his wife and mother, together with a federal Public Works grant of $583,675. The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra opened the hall on October 12, 1940. It is regarded as one of the Saarinen firm's finest works and an example of design shaped by musical function.","period_of_significance":"1938-1940","architect_builder":"Saarinen, Eliel and Eero; Kidd, J. Franklin and William A.","architectural_style":"International Style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Used as a music hall; the reflecting pool outside the Chamber Music Hall was filled in 1960 and parking added.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.266627-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/89001235_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001235/a7c01c1562-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001235/a7c01c1562-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Dave Pape","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kleinhans_Music_Hall.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Dave Pape</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kleinhans_Music_Hall.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"80002605","name":"Allentown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/allentown-historic-district-80002605/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75315724","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleinhans_Music_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6420299"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/kleinhans-music-hall-89001235/"}