Century 21, part two: The Seattle Center, circa 1990s

As I've pondered before, what's present to us will be history to someone in the future. Similarly, what we think of as ordinary, everyday, insignificant events or places might one day be of interest to someone else. Of course I thought about this more while on the Museum of History & Industry's walking tour of the Century 21 World's Fair grounds at Seattle Center in June -- I was one of only four people on the tour (and one was a baby, so she shouldn't count) not alive during the 1962 World's Fair and thus wouldn't have my own memories of the grounds. I realized, though, that probably not many of the people on the tour have been playing at the Seattle Center campus much in the past decade or so, so then I have memories of a time they wouldn't share. And then I realized ... Wait! I remember playing in the Flag Pavilion during Bumbershoot, in the rain. But the Flag Pavilion isn't even there now! So my memories are already history! (And then I grumbled about changes, and "updating," and feeling old...)

My main interaction with the Seattle Center campus has been during Bumbershoot, the annual summer arts festival at Seattle. I have such vivid memories of Seattle landmarks during Bumbershoot. Who hasn't run through the International Fountain on a warm summer day at the Center, or leaned up against the nozzles, or seen how long it would take to fill up a bottle from the fountain's spray? I've also spent a few twilit evenings during Bumbershoot dancing at the Fountain with a few hundred people, listening to drum bands.

1996

I think I absolutely fell in love with strawberry shortcake at Bumbershoot--now it's my favorite festival food, and I feel like I have to have it any time I go to any festival anywhere--much like some people first experienced and fell in love with Belgian waffles (with strawberries!) at the World's Fair!

Then there's the Flag Pavilion. Each pole had a state's flag on it, and at the World's Fair, on each state's ceremonial Day, their flag would be flown especially ceremoniously, and, well, ceremonies would take place there. In the late 1990s, the Flag Pavilion was still there, and I always thought of it as a maze. An open space, with a floor of rocks, and 50 flag poles to weave your way through. It was by no means a real maze, since it was so wide open, but I always envisioned it like a maze, dodging between poles. I don't remember the last time I saw it, but it's one of those things that one day you realize it's not there any more. I think I was at Bumbershoot in 2004 when I realized that it was gone. Now it's a grassy area, part of the Fisher Pavilion. And yes, the area is nice now, but it was the Flag Pavilion! I have pictures of being soaking wet in the rain there! You can't demolish places I have fond memories of!

The Space Needle,
seen through the Flag Pavilion, 2001.

The Flag Pavilion, 1996.
Now imagine 50 of those poles throughout the plaza --
what a beautiful maze.

Row after row of flags. 1996.

Where the Flag Pavilion used to be, 2012. Pretty, yes,
but not as cool as the geometry of all of those flagpoles.
Notice the lonely little pole in the center-back.

Also gone now is the Fun Forest, originally the World's Fair's Gayway. At one time, the Fun Forest was a hopping alley of games and rides, but over the years, it became less popular. Now it's gone, and at the south end is the new Chihuly museum. I have fond memories of spending a night playing Skee-Ball with a friend over and over and over, not realizing it was getting dark around us. We wanted those plush toys, darnit, and no one was going to stop us! I wonder how much money we spent just to get two $4 stuffed frogs :)

Skee-Ball! Lanes and lanes of Skee-Ball!
Fun Forest, 1996.

As I mentioned in my previous Century 21 post, the upper floor of the Center House never really had a definitive character in my mind. The one thing I really remember about it (other than going to Bumbershoot in high school and one of my friends tying another friend's shoes to a chair) was a couple of Christmases when there was a store space that was used for creating videos of sleigh rides. You'd get on a sleigh in front of a green screen, and then they'd record your "trip" across the world. That's it. And it being deserted. I always thought of it as sort of the cool, undiscovered hangout at the Center House. You could look over the balcony at all of the chaos going on on the main floor, but very few people were upstairs to bother or crowd you. It was a nice little getaway.

What I would think was possibly one of the biggest "Ooh, ahh"s of the new World's Fair grounds (along with the Space Needle) was the Monorail. I've always loved riding the Monorail, though over the past few years I've been a little more apprehensive about getting on it. Luckily I've never been on it when it stopped operating mid-run. Or crashed. Still, there's something very cool about zooming through the sky of Seattle, especially the portions of the trip when you're even with the upper floors of office buildings. And I love being underneath the Monorail tracks -- 50 years later, I think the underside still looks futuristic.

A few more (quick) memories of the Seattle Center campus:

• Memorial Stadium, and the big shows every year at Bumbershoot, including the first R.E.M. concert I went to.
• Watching the Black Eyed Peas concert at Memorial Stadium from the Observation Deck of the Space Needle. Did the designers of the World's Fair imagine that moment happening?
• Seeing Pacific Northwest Ballet at McCaw Hall (previously the Opera House, once part of the World's Fair).  (And oh, yeah, I saw R.E.M. there once, too.)
• One particular Bumbershoot evening, my Sophomore year in high school, being with a friend and he and I were both a little... umm... affected by the smell of a certain substance near us for a really long time. Sitting in the grass near the Mural Amphitheatre, which was (of course) designed for the World's Fair. Did the creators of the World's Fair imagine that moment, especially considering apparently everyone dressed up in their fine clothes to attend the Fair? I don't think marijuana was offered at the Food Circus.
• And speaking of the Mural Amphitheatre, that's where the traditional dance groups often perform during the Folklife Festival, held on Memorial Day Weekend. I remember seeing Los Bailadores del Sol there in 2001, and I felt like I had found my people. I sat, mesmerized, watching their bright costumes and the women's swoopy skirts, and thought, "These are my relatives. That could be me, if my family hadn't moved to the U.S. a generation ago. I wonder if they're from my family's village, or if I'm related to them. Wow, this music... it's in me. Maybe this is why I'm a dancer." The Mural Amphiteatre also hosts Movies at the Mural, an outdoor cinema during the summer.
• And speaking of the Amphiteatre some more, shout out to Chinook, whom my mom stalked there in her teen years.

Los Bailadores del Sol
Mural Amphiteatre, Folklife Festival, 2001.

Anyone out there with memories of the Seattle Center they'd like to share?