SPOKANE, Wash — The iconic butterfly in Riverfront Park fell over Wednesday morning during the windstorm.
According to Spokane Parks and Recreation Spokesperson Fianna Dickson, the butterfly fell sometime before 7:30 a.m.
Dickson said engineers were on scene around 9:30 a.m. assessing the damage and what caused the failure.
The butterfly is 50 feet tall with wings covered in lilac fabric that extend to about 60 feet. Spokane Parks and Recreation leaders previously said the structure can withstand winds up to 110 mph.
The butterfly was refurbished and re-covered with a lilac color. It is able to move, lift and rotate with the wind.
The butterfly was taken down when construction in Riverfront Park started and was reinstalled in 2019.
A 71-mph gust recorded at the Spokane International Airport makes the 2021 windstorm as strong as the historic storm in 2015 that led Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency. The storm killed two people and left 200,000 people without power for days.
