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The building that the guests and inhabitants of Opatija today mostly know as a place for various concerts, exhibitions and theatrical performances, was at the beginning a pastry shop. It is located in the most beautiful part of Opatija.
It was built in 1900 for the Quarnero company of Vienna, and expanded in 1908 following the plan of the Opatija architect Sandor Neuhausler, who added the large terrace facing the seafront promenade. At first, the building hosted the Gerbaud pastry shop, and then the Glacier Pavilion with its cafe and confectionery. At that time, fresh cakes were supplied daily by train from Pest and Vienna. After 1930, the property became an exhibition pavilion and has keep this function up to the present day. After 1945, it was renamed the Juraj Šporer Exhibition Pavilion, and later the Juraj Šporer Arts Pavilion. The pavilion was renovated in 1959, 1964, 1984 and 2003. Large rectangular doors are fully glazed. The building was named after Juraj Matija Šporer, a physician who played a main role in the promotion of the idea of Opatija as a seaside health resort. After his early retirement in 1851, Šporer moved to Primorje and continued to work as physician to the Tobacco factory and the Austrian Lloyd in Rijeka and as a private doctor in Kastav and Veprinac. He soon came to the idea of establishing a sanatorium for scrofulous patients in Opatija, and in 1872 founded the Commission for the establishment of a inhalation and balneary clinic in Opatija with a group of wealthy and prominent citizens of Rijeka.
Although this initiative eventually failed, it played a significant role in the development of Opatija, and Šporer is today considered as one of the initiators of the idea of Opatija as a health centre.