SPOKANE, Wash. — The U. S. Pavilion at Riverfront Park has been under construction for quite some time but crews are finishing up the process.
Construction on the U. S. Pavilion and event space is expected to be complete by this fall.
When it's ready, Spokane city parks and recreation officials say the space will provide open, flexible seating for concerts.
"We have 18,000 square feet of flexible space," interim director of parks and recreation Garrett Jones said. "So we'll be able to house our stage floor seating and other events and have those utilities to have this nice flexible area on the ground floor."
Mounted to the cables of the iconic Pavilion structure are about 570 illumination blades with led lights.
"So when you look at event like Fourth of July, you can do red, white and blue," Jones said. "Or events like Hoopfest, we can make it look like a basketball, or other things. We have that capability in the future."
The Pavilion will also feature tiered seating, with the upper levels that are ADA accessible.
"So when you see the tallest point at the top, somebody with disabilities, families with strollers, they'll all be able to access that," Jones said.
Don't forget about the elevated experience that will allow visitors to see views of Spokane from 40 feet off the ground. It will be open to the public when there are no scheduled events. During concerts and major events, though, it will be closed off.
Jones adds the North Bank project portion of Riverfront Park will include additional parking.
"Having that accessible route from the additional parking across the Washington Street bridge to the pavilion site, that's something we lacked in the past and we're now able to have that," Jones said.
Construction on the north end of the promenade, which stretches from the blue bridge to the North Bank playground, is expected to wrap up in late summer or early fall. The north end could be used for "Pig out in the Park" because they've added power supply, just like on the orange bridge.
Making a return to the north entrance of the park is the iconic butterfly from the World's Fair.
"The team was able to refurbish that and we'll re-cover it with a lilac color," Jones said. "True to its original design, it will be able to move and lift and rotate with the wind."
