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Buck Owens Crystal Palace

Bakersfield, US

Buck Owens Crystal Palace

Buck Owens Crystal Palace, a music hall in Bakersfield, California, was the brainchild of country music icon Buck Owens, who conceived the idea in the mid-1980s. Owens, having spent much of his early career performing in small, smoke-filled bars and honky-tonks, desired a high-class venue for countr

y-western music, a place where he could be himself. Construction commenced in the mid-1990s, with Owens deeply involved in every detail. He approved 135 change orders, several costing over $100,000, and preferred to see actual construction rather than visualize from plans. According to Jim Shaw, Owens's right-hand man, Owens would sometimes have structures reconstructed larger and moved to different locations. The project's cost escalated to $7.4 million, and the numerous change orders delayed the opening by over a year. The Crystal Palace finally opened in 1996, quickly becoming a Bakersfield landmark. The building was designed in the Western Revival style, reminiscent of 19th-century American Old West structures, with an interior resembling a western town from that era. The Buck Owens Museum, housed within, displayed items related to Owens's career in cases around the first floor, designed to resemble building windows, with some items also viewable online. The venue functioned as a performance space for country music and other genres, as well as a nightclub, bar, and restaurant. Despite continued operation, the overseeing foundation sought a new buyer, and the Crystal Palace clos

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