Free two-day celebration September 6 - 7
Media contact: Fianna Dickson, 509.625.6297, fdickson@spokanecity.org
Wednesday, August 21, 2019 at 10:30 a.m.
SPOKANE – Riverfront invites the community to a free Pavilion grand opening celebration September 6 – 7, sponsored by Garco Construction. The ribbon cutting will take place at 5 P.M. September 6.
The grand opening will feature live local music from the Spokane Symphony and The Cronkites, and national act The Dip, coming to Spokane fresh from Bumbershoot Music Festival. Attendees can also enjoy light shows, fitness programming, a Kids Zone with mobile recreation, a native cultural presentation, food vendors, beer garden, and more.
Grand Opening Celebration
4 – 9 P.M.
9 A.M. – 9 P.M.
All events are free. Visitors are encouraged to bring blankets or low profile seats for the sloped lawn. Limited chairs are available first-come.
Pavilion Reimagined
When voters approved the Riverfront Redevelopment bond, one of the five key projects focused on bringing the Pavilion back to life as the community’s central gathering place. The $22.6 million dollar investment focused on river views, light, and shade while creating a multi-use event space to host everything from community festivals, to arts and cultural activities, fitness classes, concerts, and graduations.
Illumination Blades
The remodeled and revitalized Pavilion features 479 high-tech, programmable illumination blades that light up the iconic structure like a lantern, and are capable of performing dazzling light displays with various patterns and colors. The light blades vary from 3 to 6 feet in length, with a total of 2,262 linear feet of illumination. Each one foot increment of blade can be controlled separately.
Elevated Experience with River Views
Take in panoramic views of the river and downtown on the new elevated experience, an ADA accessible catwalk culminating in a viewing platform nearly 40 feet up the Pavilion mast.
Shade
Seventy two beautiful and functional panels provide increasing shade throughout the day, partially covering the Pavilion to benefit visitors during a wide range of activities while allowing for those incredible panoramic views.
Amphitheater
The previously hardscaped interior of the Pavilion now boasts 37,000 square feet of grass-covered amphitheater-style seating where visitors can do everything from picnicking, to yoga, to watching a national act on the new flexible use event floor of 22,000 square feet. And, of course, park goers can catch a light display under the Pavilion.
“Riverfront is our community’s living room, at the heart of our beautiful Spokane River and falls,” said Mayor David Condon. “The Pavilion’s redesign reconnects our citizens and visitors to the river and builds upon our community assets, as envisioned in our Joint Strategic Plan, One Spokane. Our citizens overwhelming voted to invest in our signature urban park, demonstrating how important these assets are to the quality of life for everyone now and into the future.”
“Shared spaces like these bring our community together,” said Garrett Jones, interim director for Parks and Recreation. “The Pavilion is now our community’s central gathering place and our lantern, as outlined in the Master Plan for the park. It’s amazing to see how the transformation honors the past while bringing the city’s icon into the future.”
Jon Moog, director of Riverfront, said, “The Pavilion will showcase the best of Spokane. As our community stage, the Pavilion will host family gatherings to major concerts and bring the community together through celebration. It will inspire new adventures, urban play and be a source of Spokane pride for years to come.”
The Spokane Symphony’s performance at the Pavilion grand opening will be the inaugural concert with new Music Director, James Lowe. “What a wonderful way for our new conductor to start his work in Spokane,” says Spokane Symphony Executive Director Jeff vom Saal. “The Pavilion is iconic—representative of Spokane’s heritage and commitment to innovation, plus an important new entertainment venue where the public will enjoy the performing arts for generations to come,” said vom Saal.
Thank you to our Presenting Sponsor, Garco Construction, and official sponsors: Apollo Mechanical Contractors, Berger Partnership, Cameron-Reilly Concrete, Downtown Spokane Partnership, Mackin & Little Mechanical, Modern Drywall, NAC Architecture, Negative Split, Power City Electric, S&S Coatings, SCAFCO, and Spokane Parks Foundation.
View the most recent Riverfront Redevelopment update. For more on redevelopment, visit RiverfrontParkNow.com.
The City of Choice
509.625.6200
parks@spokanecity.org
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd # 5, Spokane, WA 99201
