The Expo '74-inspired structures that remain today paint a picture of the highly transformative year that was 1974, and for some Spokane architecture firms, represent work that helped shape them.

The First Interstate Center for the Arts and the Spokane Convention Center, as the breezeway-connected facilities are known today, were originally built as the Washington State Pavilion for the World’s Fair. The First Interstate Center for the Arts was first known as the Spokane Opera House following Expo.

The Washington State Pavilion project was designed and administered by Walker McGough, a Spokane architecture firm that later changed its name to Integrus Architecture PS, as it’s known now.

Walker McGough had been around for over 20 years prior to Expo, but the Washington State Pavilion project enhanced the credibility of the firm, says George Nachtsheim, former president and CEO of Integrus and project manager on the Washington State Pavilion project.

“The firm was pretty well recognized even prior to (Expo),” Nachtsheim says. “It was a small firm. It had a great reputation and was well known. But we did major jobs after that.”

The project came with its fair share of challenges, Nachtsheim says.

“Once winter hit, it was a disaster," he says. "That area was all mud. When you’re on a tight time schedule, it just was very challenging.”

To meet the difficult deadline, two different contractors worked on the building, which was an unusual occurrence, according to Jerry Winkler, also a past president of Integrus.

“It really demonstrated the spirit of Expo,” Winkler says. “You had two general contractors who usually are competitors working together to get this accomplished with a minimal budget and extremely difficult timeframe.”

Winkler worked for the Expo ‘74 Corp. at the time, helping to oversee the construction and design contracts. The Expo ‘74 Corp. was tasked with, among other things, securing funding to build the Washington State Pavilion and managing site development.

Winkler began working for Walker McGough in December 1974, just after the end of the World’s Fair.

The cooperation between competing companies across the entire Expo site—not just the Opera House and Convention Center—helped make the entire fair possible, Winkler says.

“There were a lot of different architects working on the site, a lot of different contractors working on the site,” says Winkler. “There was a tremendous amount of cooperation that really helped that get done in such a short period of time.”

                                                                                                                                                                                    -Dylan Harris
Jerry Winkler, left, and George Nachtsheim, both former presidents of Integrus Architecture, each had roles related to the design and construction of the First Interstate Center for the Arts and the Spokane Convention Center.

Among those other firms with roles during Expo was TSG Architects, which later merged with TBK Architects to form what is now known as NAC Architecture.

“Architecture is very collaborative,” says Ben Nielsen, a retired principal of NAC who worked for TSG during Expo. “We competed for private work every day, but we then collaborated all the time with Expo.”

TSG assisted the firm now known as ALSC Architects PS in developing a master plan for site development for the fair and its future use as a city park, according to a city of Spokane report.

NAC’s ties to Expo have extended beyond the fair itself.

Steve McNutt, also a retired principal of NAC, was a member and past president of the Spokane Park Board and was part of the decision-making process for later changes at Riverfront Park.

There were efforts to keep the U.S. Pavilion, located in the park just west of the Washington Street tunnel, as an active attraction, McNutt says. Over the years, the U.S. Pavilion was home to an ice-skating rink, carnival rides, putt-putt golf, and more.

“All of those things had initial attraction, but they all went stale, and they all ended up performing, financially, very poorly,” McNutt says.

McNutt argued that Riverfront Park would be better suited to have a more passive identity, rather than trying to actively attract people with various forms of entertainment.

He stayed true to that idea when the IMAX theater—another Expo attraction—began to struggle financially following the expiration of its franchise agreement, he says. Some circles hoped to see the building that housed the massive movie screen repurposed, but McNutt fought back against that plan.

Following the approval of a bond measure by Spokane voters in 2014, a master plan to redevelop Riverfront called for the closure and demolition of the iconic theater, among other renovations.

NAC was heavily involved in the redevelopment efforts.

“We had this long history with our firm and what was going on with Expo and Riverfront Park,” says Keith Comes, a principal architect at NAC. “It made sense for us to participate in these community projects.”

In addition to designing the new building that houses the historic Looff Carrousel, NAC was selected as the architect for the U.S. Pavilion renovations.

Like McNutt, NAC as a firm took the stance that the IMAX theater should be demolished, the Ice Palace underneath the Pavilion should be removed, and the Pavilion, which had a tent-like cover during Expo, should remain uncovered.

“As a design team, one of the things we said was ‘cut the cord to ’74,’” Comes says. “It’s not an Expo anymore.”

NAC added illumination and shade features to the Pavilion as part of the renovation project. The demolition of the IMAX building opened up the views of the U.S. Pavilion, connecting it better to the Spokane River, Comes says.

“When we worked on the Pavilion, we wanted to make sure that it was a kind of sculpture in the park, that it felt like it was part of the park,” Comes says.

The impact of Expo was long-lasting for Integrus, too.

“We were established ahead of that time, but I would say (Expo) was pivotal in us just understanding who we wanted to be as a firm and what impact we wanted in our communities,” says Becky Barnhart, the current president of Integrus. “It really did set a course that we’re still on now, 50 years later.”

Barnhart says the Washington State Pavilion project helped guide Integrus toward more public works projects, including later expansions of the Convention Center, as well as The Podium sports venue. Integrus also is handling architectural services for some of the renovations planned for the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena later this month, as the Journal previously reported.

“We kind of doubled down on our focus to be public works architects,” Barnhart says. “We are very much engaged in our communities.”

Relationships are paramount to creating these opportunities for future projects, including the relationships that were created early on by staff members like Nachtsheim and Winkler, says Barnhart.

“It’s so important that you don’t just do a job and walk away,” Nachtsheim says. “You build these relationships and you maintain them.”

While architecture firms that were involved in Expo may have been the most directly impacted, the Spokane architecture community as a whole benefited from the fair, Nachtsheim says.

“In terms of a direct relationship, Expo created an environment for the architecture community,” he says. “You saw new buildings being constructed. … It contributed to, I guess you could say our firm, but to all architectural firms.”

Integrus, in addition to its Spokane office, now has offices in Seattle and Portland, Oregon.

NAC now has six total offices, including its original Spokane location.