Then and now: Spokane Convention Center

Before Expo ’74, the south bank of the Spokane River west of Division Street was a Great Northern rail yard. The yard was eight tracks wide, including three tracks next to the GN Freight Office.

Section:Gallery

Sun., Nov. 24, 2019

One public notice on former railroad property on the south side of the Spokane River near the Division Street Bridge is an application for a liquor license for a new restaurant, seen here in a 1977 photo. Another is for a shoreline permit for a 70-unit condominium development east of Division, though it wouldn’t be built for another 15 years. The restaurant, C.I. Shenanigans, opened in 1980, but was torn down in 2013 to make way for an expansion of the Spokane Convention Center.

The Spokesman-Review Photo Archive Sr
Runners pass the Spokane Convention Center on the south bank of the Spokane River Friday, Nov. 22, 2019. The riverfront was transformed by Expo ’74, then radically transformed again by the development of the expanded convention center and local hotels, which made Spokane a major player in the convention business.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review