The site finally selected for the Century 21 Exposition had originally been contemplated for a civic center. Buildings and grounds ġ960 map of what became the grounds of the Century 21 Exposition The theme of Spokane's Expo '74 was "Celebrating Tomorrow's Fresh New Environment.". In contrast, 12 years later-even in far more conservative Spokane, Washington- Expo '74 took environmentalism as its central theme. Affluence, automation, consumerism, and American power would grow social equity would simply take care of itself on a rising tide of abundance the human race would master nature through technology rather than view it in terms of ecology. The fair's vision of the future displayed a technologically based optimism that did not anticipate any dramatic social change, one rooted in the 1950s rather than in the cultural tides that would emerge in the 1960s. He bowed out, pleading a "heavy cold" it later became public that he was dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy was supposed to attend the closing ceremony of the fair on October 21, 1962. Īs it happened, the Cold War had an additional effect on the fair. Neither the People's Republic of China, Vietnam nor North Korea were invited. Project manager Ewen Dingwall went to Moscow to request Soviet participation, but was turned down. In June 1960, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) certified Century 21 as a world's fair. As a result, the themes of space, science, and the future completely trumped the earlier conception of a "Festival of the West". With the Space Race underway and Boeing having "put Seattle on the map" as "an aerospace city", a major theme of the fair was to show that "the United States was not really 'behind' the Soviet Union in the realms of science and space". The fair was originally conceived at a Washington Athletic Club luncheon in 1955 to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, but it soon became clear that that date was too ambitious. Eventually the council approved a $7.5 million bond issue with the state of Washington matching that amount. ![]() He recruited community and business leaders, as well as running a petition campaign, in the early 1950s to convince the city council to approve an $8.5 million bond issue to build the opera house and sports center needed to attract the fair. Seattle mayor Allan Pomeroy is credited with bringing the World's Fair to the city. Unlike some other world's fairs of its era, Century 21 made a profit. The fair saw the construction of the Space Needle and Alweg monorail, as well as several sports venues (Washington State Coliseum, now Climate Pledge Arena) and performing arts buildings (the Playhouse, now the Cornish Playhouse), most of which have since been replaced or heavily remodeled. Īs planned, the exposition left behind a fairground and numerous public buildings and public works some credit it with revitalizing Seattle's economic and cultural life ( see History of Seattle since 1940). Nearly 10 million people attended the fair. The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington, United States.
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