Syria Mosque

Syria Mosque
Photo of Syria Mosque taken c. 1913-1920 by Edward J. Shourek.
General information
Status	Demolished in 1991
Type	Performance venue
Architectural style	Exotic Revival architecture
Address	4400 Bigelow Boulevard
Town or city	Pittsburgh, PA
Country	United States of America
Coordinates	40°26′44″N 79°57′23″W / 40.445557°N 79.956347°W / 40.445557; -79.956347
Completed	1911
Inaugurated	1916
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Huehl, Schmidt & Holmes
Known for	Birthplace of network television
Other information
Seating capacity	3,700

Syria Mosque was a 3,700-seat ^[1] performance venue located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Constructed in 1911 and dedicated on October 26, 1916,^[2] the building was originally built as a "mystical" shrine for the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (the Shriners) and designed by Huehl, Schmidt & Holmes architectural firm of Chicago.^[3] It was recognized as one of the best examples of Exotic Revival architecture.^[4]

Located at 4400 Bigelow Boulevard,^[5] it held numerous events over the years, mainly highlighted by concerts of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and numerous internationally recognized music performers, as well as comedians and political rallies and speeches. In addition to the main theater, events also took place in the building's smaller "Syria Mosque Ballroom" space.

The Medinah Temple in Chicago (constructed one year after this building by the same firm) is a similar building still in existence (though now converted to retail space).

Despite community efforts to have Syria Mosque designated a historic landmark, the building was demolished August 27, 1991.^[6]

Pakistani-Canadian architect Gulzar Haider^[7][8] described the appearance of the building circa 1960:

As we turned onto a minor street on the University of Pittsburgh campus, [my host] pointed to a vertical neon sign that said in no uncertain terms “Syria Mosque.” Parking the car, we approached the building. I was fascinated, albeit with some premonition. I was riveted by the cursive Arabic calligraphy on the building: la ghalib il-Allah, “There is no victor but Allah,” the well-known refrain [inscribed on the walls of]^[9] Granada’s Alhambra. Horseshoe arches, horizontal bands of different colored bricks, decorative terra-cotta—all were devices to invoke a Moorish memory. Excitedly, I took a youthful step towards the lobby, when my host turned around and said, "This is not the kind of mosque in which you bend up and down facing Mecca. This is a meeting hall–theater built by Shriners, a nice bunch of people who build hospitals for [disabled] children and raise money through parades and circuses."^[7]

On January 11, 1949, from 8:30 pm to 11 pm EST, KDKA-TV (then WDTV and part of the DuMont Television Network) began its initial broadcast on its "network" centered in Pittsburgh. The program began with a one-hour local show broadcast from Syria Mosque, then finished with 90 minutes from ABC, CBS, NBC, and DuMont, featuring stars such as Arthur Godfrey, Milton Berle, DuMont host Ted Steele, and many other celebrities.^[10] The station also represented a milestone in the television industry, providing the first "network" of a coaxial cable feed that included Pittsburgh and 13 other cities from Boston to St. Louis.^[11]

Despite community efforts to have the building designated a historic landmark, the Syria Mosque was torn down on August 27, 1991.^[6] The site serves as a parking lot for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Plans were announced that University of Pittsburgh would acquire it from the medical center in 2016.^[12]

Among the concert events:

• February 28, 1920: Enrico Caruso performs just 18 months before his death.
• October 5, 1924: John Philip Sousa
• Benny Goodman (1938, 1941)
• Sergei Rachmaninoff with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1931, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1941)
• January 28, 1944: Symphony No. 1 by Leonard Bernstein had its premiere at the center.
• February 1 and 3, 1946: Carol Brice with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Fritz Reiner^[13]
• Louis Armstrong (three appearances, beginning in 1949)
• October 11, 1950: Billy Eckstine, George Shearing and Miles Davis^[14]
• Charlie Parker (1950)
• February 27, 1951: Nat King Cole Trio and Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, featuring vocalists Frances Irvin and Johnny Amoroso^[15]
• November 24–30, 1952: Pittsburgh International Contemporary Music Festival, featuring performances of 14 commissioned works, such as Vincent Persichetti's Concerto for Piano, Four Hands.^[16] Performing ensembles included the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the West Point Band.
• January 9, 1953: World Premiere of the Heitor Villa-Lobos composition Piano Concerto no. 4, with Bernardo Segall and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Villa-Lobos.
• Duke Ellington (in 1954)
• April 28, 1955: Horace Heidt performs at Syria Mosque and MC's a talent competition, all for charity.
• Art Blakey (several occasions, in 1955 with the Jazz Messengers)
• Miles Davis (1955)
• Bill Haley and the Comets with Bo Diddley and the Drifters (1955)
• Buddy Holly (four times in 1957-1958)
• Sam Cooke
• Ahmad Jamal in 1959
• Benny Goodman in 1959
• Dionne Warwick and Solomon Burke in 1963.^[17]
• Peter, Paul, and Mary on November 21, 1965 [1]
• Bob Dylan in 1966 and again in 1990
• The Who in 1969
• The Band in 1970 and on September 21, 1976, the concert "Next to Last Waltz". On Thanksgiving night, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, they played their final concert. It became the Martin Scorsese documentary film The Last Waltz.
• The two-year-old Pittsburgh Ballet Theater opened its first season as a professional organization in 1970.
• Mickey Newbury in 1971
• The Allman Brothers Band in 1971 (turned into an album in 2022)
• Matthews Southern Comfort, Deep Purple and Faces July 16, 1971
• Yes on December 16, 1971 on their Fragile Tour
• Carly Simon in 1972
• Pink Floyd in 1971 and 1972
• The Kinks September 1, 1972 and April 13, 1974
• Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band on October 15, 1972
• Bette Midler in 1973, accompanied by, a then unknown, Barry Manilow.
• Jim Croce on February 23, 1973. Croce was scheduled to return to the Syria Mosque on October 27 that year, but he died in a plane crash on September 20.
• The New York Dolls on October 18, 1973
• Barbara Mandrell October 26, 1973
• The Doobie Brothers on November 15, 1973
• The Beach Boys on August 31, 1973
• David Bowie in 1974
• The Carpenters in 1974^[18]
• ZZ Top in 1974^[18]
• The Eagles in 1974^[18]
• Jesse Colin Young in 1974^[18]
• Joni Mitchell on February 14, 1974. Accompanied by Tom Scott and the L.A. Express, who also performed as the opening act.^[19]
• Genesis on May 3, 1974 (Selling England by the Pound Tour),^[18] 1975
• Helen Reddy and Robert Klein on April 2, 1976
• Genesis (band) on 30 November 1974 (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Tour) and April 13, 1976 (A Trick of the Tail Tour); a recording of the April 13, 1976 show has since been widely bootlegged.
• Frank Zappa on November 6, 1974, on November 17, 1984 and on February 25, 1988 / March 8, 1988
• Van Morrison on May 21, 1974
• Miles Davis on March 17, 1975
• Lynyrd Skynyrd on May 27, 1975; guitarist Ed King’s last concert with the original band
• Bruce Springsteen on August 9, 1975.^[20]
• Stephen Stills on October 25, 1975
• George Benson (1976, 1977 and 1986)
• James Brown (1976 and 1986)
• James Taylor on July 25, 1976
• Kansas on October 30, 1976, in a show that was recorded and later broadcast by 102.5 WDVE-FM
• Bob Marley (1977)
• Beatlemania (musical) in 1981, shortly after the death of John Lennon
• June 14, 1982: The inaugural Mellon Jazz Festival (among other venues)
• Gallagher (Comedian), October 1982.
• Men at Work (opening act INXS), August 1983.
• August 4, 1983: Count Basie's final public concert performance.
• Dio in 1983
• Lou Reed on October 4, 1984 ^[21]
• Dire Straits in 1985.^[22]
• Tears for Fears on June 15, 1985^[23]
• Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force on July 9, 1985^[24]
• Black Sabbath in 1986^[25]
• Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble in 1986
• The Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1986 billed as "The Thunderbirds"
• R.E.M. in 1985 and 1986
• The Bangles in a MTV broadcast concert 1986^[26]
• The Cult on April 4, 1986 ^[27]
• New Order in 1986
• Robin Williams in 1986 ^[28]
• Hüsker Dü on March 10, 1987
• The Cure, Whitesnake and Quiet Riot in 1987
• Fishbone on October 18, 1988 ^[29]
• Schoolly D (opening for Fishbone) on October 18, 1988
• Jimmy Page in 1988
• The Ramones in 1987 and on September 21, 1988 ^[30]
• Jane's Addiction (opening for The Ramones) on September 21, 1988 ^[31]
• Midnight Oil on May 4, 1988 ^[32]
• Anthrax, Exodus and Helloween in 1989 (as part of the MTV's Headbangers Ball Tour)^[33][34]
• Love and Rockets (band) on August 31, 1989 ^[35]
• Pixies (band) (opening for Love and Rockets) on August 31, 1989
• Winger in 1989
• Jimmy Buffett on December 7, 1989
• Manhattan Transfer on December 27, 1989
• Public Enemy, Queen Latifah and Biz Markie on February 1, 1990
• the B-52's on February 2, 1990 ^[36]
• XYZ on March 10, 1990
• Vanilla Ice on January 18, 1991
• Benefit for Porky Chedwick on February 22, 1991
• Deep Purple on April 22, 1991
• L.L. Cool J on May 5th, 1991 ^[37]

Among the political events:

• October 24, 1923: David Lloyd George.
• January 2, 1944: Harry S Truman
• November 2, 1944: Harry S Truman, Orson Welles, Gifford Pinchot and Kermit Roosevelt^[38]
• November 10, 1947: Henry A. Wallace announced he was a candidate for president.
• June 6, 1950: Ronald Reagan
• October 8, 1952: Richard Nixon addressing a crowd of 3,900.
• October 22, 1952: Harry S Truman
• November 1, 1956: Richard Nixon & Pat Nixon^[39]
• October 27, 1958: Dwight D. Eisenhower
• October 10, 1960: John F. Kennedy
• October 24, 1960: Richard Nixon
• November 4, 1966: The last public appearance by longtime mayor, governor and boss David L. Lawrence.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Syria Mosque.

• Picture Album
• Pittsburgh Music History -Lost Temple of Music
• Resurrecting the Syria Mosque
• Pittsburgh Post Gazette retrospective

40°26′44″N 79°57′19″W / 40.445477°N 79.955149°W / 40.445477; -79.955149