This day in history: ‘Circus” plan for Expo pavilion included ice rink, swan boats and fish ponds

From 1975: The latest grand plan for the old Expo ’74 site? ” The Riverfront Park Pavilion Circus.”

This wasn’t a circus in the Ringling Bros. sense – it was a circular collection of attractions centered under the former U.S. Pavilion umbrella.

A “heady combination of citizens, local government and professional planners” said the proposed “Circus” would include an ice-skating rink, Swan Boat rides, fish ponds, a children’s zoo, play fort, a “dark ride” stimulating a mine-shaft trip and a theater including IMAX films, Omnimax films and a planetarium.

This would all require a considerable amount of funding. Some of it (the ice rink and IMAX theater) would come to pass, and some of it (the “dark ride” and Swan Boats) would not.

The plan also included “a second activity center,” anchored by the “old Natatorium Park merry-go-round” – today known as Riverfront Park’s Looff Carrousel.

This was the only element of the plan that was ready to open. A dedication ceremony for the carrousel was slated for May 8. The historic 1909 carrousel had been installed in Expo ’74’s round Bavarian Gardens building after a “Save Our Merry-Go-Round” fundraising drive.

From 1925: A logger, 42, became “despondent from drink and tried to kill himself” by cutting his throat, then his wrists, and then hurling himself into the Spokane River.

“But the water was so cold, he changed his mind, and, being a logger, grabbed the first log in sight and hollered for aid.”

He was fished out of the Phoenix Mill pond, “bedraggled from blood and water, but still able to yell lustily as he clung to the log.”

He was given a night in jail to recover from his wounds.