The closing of the 1904 World’s Fair left the city without a convention center for three years. A group of businessmen led by attorney Guy Golterman assembled $450,000 in private funding, and built the Coliseum at Washington and Jefferson Avenues. It was designed by Frederick C. Bonsack and occupied a full block. When the cornerstone was laid on August 22, 1908, it was claimed the building would be the largest public building in the United States. It replaced the St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall as the city's main convention and big entertainment center.