Saloon owner James Osborne donated part of his estate in 1881 to the City of Seattle for a “civic auditorium.” The site for such an auditorium became available in 1889, when Seattle pioneers David and Louisa (Boren) Denny donated land to the city for “public use forever.” It wasn’t until 1927, however, after Seattle citizens passed a $900,000 bond issue, that the hall was finally built. In 1928, the new Civic Auditorium was dedicated by Seattle’s only female mayor, Bertha Knight Landes. Then, in 1956, a Civic Center bond issue passed (after failing in 1950), paving the way for the Seattle “Century 21” World’s Fair of 1962, and the conversion of the existing and cavernous Civic Auditorium into a 3,100-seat Opera House. Following another major rebuilding and seismic retrofitting, that Opera House emerged in 2003 as Seattle Opera’s present home, Marion Oliver McCaw Hall.