Expo ’74 butterfly reinstalled on Riverfront Park’s north bank

Kelsie Morgan by Kelsie Morgan

Riverfront Park

One of the iconic Expo ’74 butterflies has now returned to Spokane’s Riverfront Park.

Several of the steel and fabric butterflies were created by artist Eric Grohe for when the world’s fair came to Spokane in 1974.

The now-reinstalled butterfly stood in Riverfront Park until 2018 when the city tweeted, “Our Expo ’74 Butterfly is fluttering off to be refurbished and given new fabric wings. We’re excited to see it fly once again when it returns later this year!”

The steel frame of the butterfly went up Tuesday morning near the Flour Mill at the corner of Mallon and Howard. In the coming days, lilac colored fabric wings will be added.

According to the Riverfront Park Facebook page, there is one other surviving butterfly. The Spokane Parks Foundation is currently working to raise funds to refurbish that one.

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