Buddy Holly Center, Music museum in Lubbock, United States.
The Buddy Holly Center occupies the former Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway depot, a 1928 Spanish Renaissance Revival building by Wyatt C. Hedrick. Its guitar-shaped permanent gallery holds Holly's Fender Stratocaster, his glasses, a recording microphone, stage outfits, childhood homework and a slingshot. The site also includes the Texas Musician Hall of Fame, the Lubbock Fine Arts Gallery and three galleries for traveling shows. Outside, a sign reading "BUDDY HOLLY CENTER" stands between dark supports.
The building opened in 1928 as Lubbock's Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway depot, designed by Fort Worth architect Wyatt C. Hedrick in Spanish Renaissance Revival style. It served as a station until 1953, then housed a restaurant from 1976 and became Lubbock's first designated historic landmark in 1979. The city bought the depot in 1997 and opened the Buddy Holly Center on September 3, 1999, four days before Holly's birthday.
The center's name and identity tie it to Buddy Holly, and its Texas Musician Hall of Fame stages temporary exhibits on West Texas musicians. Paul McCartney played a concert here in October 2014 and spoke about Holly's influence on The Beatles; Patricia Vonne performed in August 2015. The center also runs an annual Summer Showcase concert series.
The Center sits in a former 1928 railway depot on the corner of 19th Street and Crickets Avenue, with the entrance marked by the oversized horn-rimmed glasses sculpture. Jerry Allison's relocated house on the grounds can be toured. On February 3, the anniversary of Holly's death, trolley tours visit Holly-related sites around Lubbock.
The museum displays Holly's actual 1958 Ariel Cyclone motorcycle and features oversized sculpture glasses outside the entrance, plus Jerry Allison's relocated songwriter house.
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