King Cole
The Expo came to Spokane, Wash. because of a man with the fabulous name of King Cole. Although he passed, his legacy lives on through Riverfront Park and the current push to honor his vision by revitalizing our park yet again. Here is a little back story.
A group of businessmen formed “Spokane Unlimited” and hired a young urban planner named King Cole to lead the revitalization project in 1963. Cole began negotiating to relocate the rail lines and other businesses and proposed that the city consider hosting a world’s fair. The ambitious plan took 10 years to take shape and come to fruition as Expo 74 – a World’s Fair with the theme: “Man and the Environment.” The Fair was supposed to demonstrate how Spokanites had rediscovered their river. Fair backers proclaimed that this was to be the first environmental world exposition, and that Spokane’s plan would be at the forefront of ecological sensitivity.
Riverfront Park Construction
L2002-23.11 – Construction of US Pavilion for EXPO 74.
The city had to tear down the old Great Northern train station, built in 1902, with a handsome the clock tower. This became a controversial decision. Finally it was decided to retain the tower. You can see the old roofline on the Clock Tower in Riverfront Park, as the bricks don’t exactly match. A plaque on the Tower tells of the contribution of the railroads to the development of the city and the gift of land from the RR. An important part of the World’s Fair plan was that the site would become Riverfront Park, a remaining legacy after the fair. Expo 74, which ran from May 1974 – September 1974, was a success as over 5,300,000 people came and pumped an estimated $150,000,000 into the local economy. At that time Spokane was the smallest town to host a world fair. Even President Nixon attended to officially open the Fair.
Following the fair, the historic Loof Carousel which had been in Natatorium Park was restored from its closing and installed in 1975. Many features in the park today remain from the World’s Fair, such as the IMAX theatre, the Pavilion, the sky ride over the Falls, the Garbage-Eating Goat and the butterflies. Riverfront Park, today, is 100 acres of beautiful riverbanks, bridges, islands, plus the Opera House and Convention Center, Centennial Trail, and gathering place for community-wide events through out the year.
The before and after pictures show amazing differences between the old railroads, stations and trestles, and the new Riverfront Park.