It was small, but it was ambitious. A public works project in many ways meant to return a decaying downtown area into a public park in a city, the smallest up to that point, that would ever host a World’s Fair. It was pertinent, with Earth Day activities all the rage across the country, that Expo ’74 would use the special theme nature of a Special Category fair with B.I.E. sanctioning to such effect. Over a five-year period of time, Spokane reclaimed the area around the Spokane Falls and cleaned the river for spectacular fairgrounds, and got ten nations to participate, including an $11.5 million pavilion from the United States. Yes, international participation was less than they wanted, striving for twenty-three. The city businessmen were behind the effort, taxing themselves to pay for bonds. It is estimated that Expo ’74 sparked $700 million in economic activity during the ten years surrounding the event. It is estimated that the reclamation project, without the fair, would have taken twenty-five years to pull off. The dream of a riverfront park had been around since 1910. Now it was a reality… read more >
The Felix the Cat Sign in Los Angeles
Felix Chevrolet is the oldest auto dealership operating in the city of Los Angeles. It was opened in 1921 at 12th Street and Grand Avenue
