This day in history: Committee suggested tax to finish Riverfront Park. Governor rededicated Spokane’s upgraded Masonic temple

From 1975: An advisory committee recommended that a $3.9 million special levy be placed on the ballot to finish the remake of Riverfront Park.

The city parks director said the money “would essentially complete both the park and the Pavilion Circus.” The Pavilion Circus was a plan to turn the umbrella-covered former U.S. Pavilion into a recreation area with an ice-skating rink, amusement rides, IMAX theaters, a children’s zoo, fish ponds and fountains.

The levy proposal “rests on the assumption that the federal government will give the U.S. Pavilion to the city without charge.”

If approved by the city council, the levy would be on the September ballot.

From 1925: Gov. Roland Hartley was on hand to rededicate Spokane’s Masonic Temple, “one of the finest fraternal homes in the Northwest.”

The $750,000 expansion was rededicated with a lavish ceremony in the auditorium, “which was so crowded that many could not gain entrance.

“The scenes were impressive and were given charm by the beautiful settings and ornate hall,” the Spokane Daily Chronicle said.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1816: Ten inches of snow falls in New England, part of the “year without a summer,” which followed the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia.

1938: Sigmund Freud arrives in London, fleeing the Nazi annexation of Austria.

1944: During Operation Overlord, D-Day begins as the 156,000-strong Allied Expeditionary Force lands in Normandy, France, during World War II.