In 1989, for about six months, the former Masonic Temple became the Sonic Temple. It gained a place in rock and roll history when Nirvana appeared there on July 9 during a United States tour. Kurt Cobain played a 1973 Fender Mustang that he smashed in Philadelphia on July 12.
The Tree Frogs and Carsickness are among the many groups that played at the Sonic Temple. The styles of music ranged from hard punk to industrial to funk rock to new music.
Admission prices were around $6. For a monthly membership fee of $25 or $30 one could catch all the shows in the particular month.
A group called the South Avenue Association on July 7, 1999 became the owner of the former Masonic Temple with the goal of refurbishing the building to be a school.
The Thurgood Marshall Academy opened in the 1999–2000 school year with funding from the Wilkinsburg School District. They rented from the South Avenue Association. The state revoked the school’s charter in July of 2000. The state turned down an appeal from the Thurgood Marshall Academy in December. The next day the Wilkinsburg School Board voted to close the school. Enrollment varied from more than 200 to less than 100.
On April 4, 2006, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community purchased the building.
In 2015 the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community hosted an inter-faith community meeting on the path of love. A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article by Mark Roth described the meeting. “Rabbi James Gibson of Temple Sinai said he had broken his own rule against accepting outside engagements on the Jewish sabbath because of how important he thought it was to speak out for religious tolerance. . . .The Rev. Rita Platt, minister of the South Avenue Methodist Church, said ‘Love is so much more than Valentine’s Day; it’s respect, dignity, the privilege of coming together, learning from one another and growing.’ ”
Sanjay Metla, a leader of Hindu Jain faith, related their belief of the presence of God in every person and in each element of creation and how this belief is a source for religious tolerance.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is committed to a path of encouraging peace and interfaith understanding.
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“Kurt Cobain’s 1973 Fender Mustang”
https://www.groundguitar.com/kurt-cobain-gear/kurt-cobains-1973-fender-mustang/
Daniel Reynolds, “Closed school slated for probe,” Trib Live, April 24, 2002.
https://archive.triblive.com/news/closed-school-slated-for-probe/
Mark Roth, “Religious leaders assail violence in the name of faith, Gathering at mosque in Wilkinsburg draws 5 major denominations” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 1, 2015.
https://www.post-gazette.com/local/east/2015/03/01/Religious-leaders-gather-to-condemn-violence-in-the-name-of-faith/stories/201502280203