SPOKANE, Wash. – 50 years ago King Cole traveled 700,000 miles across the world to gather the support necessary to start turning Riverfront Park and Spokane into the city we call home today. Cole was successful; now his grandson is sharing why.
If you or I were to look at Riverfront Park before Expo, all we would have seen was a rail yard.
When Cole saw it, he saw a community space. Lots of plant life and room for events. Families walking through the park at all hours of the day. A perfect addition to the downtown core of Spokane.
That’s because according to his grandson, Cole Taylor, he was a dreamer.
Cole was not afraid to think outside the box or to shoot for the stars, which Taylor says is part of why he was so successful at making an impact on Spokane.
But it’s also because of his work ethic. King Cole traveled 700,000 miles in three years to gather support from local, state, and national leaders to get Spokane selected as the smallest city to ever host Expo at the time.
Without Cole’s work ethic, Expo ’74 would not have been in Spokane. But that was not enough. Taylor says one of Cole’s greatest attributes is his authenticity.
“He treated everybody the same,” said Taylor. “It didn’t matter if you were the janitor at the fair or a dignitary, he treated everybody well, with respect…”
Taylor has been dreaming big about what the future of Spokane looks like even now.
When Cole first had the idea of removing the railroads from Riverfront Park, many thought he was crazy. 50 years later and the park has a whole new identity.
Taylor says his next big idea for how Spokane could change is right in the heart of downtown Spokane. He says he would like the city to get rid of one-way streets downtown.
Taylor says they are bad for business because half the day they will be busy and the other half they will be empty, which is why he says it could be good to make all the roads two-way.
Taylor also says it could be good to remove street parking, specifically on Main Street, to make downtown Spokane even more people-friendly.
Taylor says there is plenty of downtown parking already with all the garages and lots. He says extending the sidewalks or adding more plant life could get more people excited to spend time downtown which would support local business.
“That real estate is so valuable on that street,” said Taylor. “We have plenty of parking in downtown Spokane with the garages and whatnot so that would be my one little thing that maybe people would look at me crazy about but I think it would be a fun idea…”
Taylor says he thinks his grandpa would support his ideas because it’s all about supporting and investing in downtown Spokane.
