ane's World's Fair, was an international exposition held from May 4 to November 3, 1974, in Spokane. With a population of only 170,000, Spokane was the smallest city ever to hold a world's fair, yet it attracted almost 5.2 million visitors. The theme was the environment. Ten countries, including the Soviet Union, Japan, and the United States, along with many states and corporations, hosted pavilions on the 100-acre site. The original impetus of the fair was to clean up and reclaim the land alongside the mighty falls of the Spokane River, which for decades had been clogged with railroad tracks, trestles, and warehouses. Under the leadership of King Cole (1922-2010), a veteran of urban renewal projects, Spokane made the audacious decision to host a world's fair and then convert the downtown site into a public park. After the fair closed, the site was revamped to become Riverfront Park, today the city's downtown showcase and gathering spot. David H. Rodgers (b. 1923) Spokane's mayor at the time, said, "Reduced to its essentials, we gave a great big party and the rest of the world came and paid the bill" (Youngs, 503).
