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Published April 8, 1962:
Final Countdown Begins for Seattle's World of Tomorrow

By Stanton H. Patty

The stage is set. The final countdown is on.

The Seattle World's Fair - the first World's Fair in America in 22 years - will open at noon April 21.

For 184 days Seattle will be the capital of the world.

A dream seven years in the making is coming true ... the dream of a handful of men who reached for a star and were unafraid of the impossible.

Century 21 - the World of Tomorrow - is the bold theme.

Seattle is looking to the future.

Science, the wares of the world, fun and music will be fused in the $100,000,000 space-age extravaganza.

Millions of visitors - perhaps 10,000,000 or more - will push through the turnstiles to savor the excitement.

Welding torches and floodlights are burning late on the fairgrounds as more than 2,000 construction workers race the clock to complete the galaxy of pavilions and exhibits.

The pace is tense and hectic.

But the promise is that the fair will be ready.

The Seattle World's Fair was conceived as a "jewel-box exposition" - modest in size, but every inch a dazzling world's fair.

And a jewel box it is, spilling its gems over 74 bright acres in the heart of Seattle:

• The spectacular Space Needle, towering 600 feet in the sky, with a revolving restaurant and observation deck.


• The Monorail, tomorrow's transportation today, with two mile-a-minute trains linking downtown Seattle with the fairgrounds.


• The $10,000,000 Federal Science Pavilion, the greatest scientific showcase ever assembled by the United States government.


• The giant Washington State Coliseum, where visitors will wander through a mysterious cloud of cubes to preview life in the world of tomorrow.


• The pavilions of more than 50 nations, displaying the folklore, the proud achievements and the hopes of the family of nations on five continents.


• The Spacearium, where visitors will have the sensation of soaring through space in a rocket ship, traveling millions of miles from planet Earth.


• The Boulevards of the World, a colorful array of bazaars, restaurants and shops with foreign accents stretching through the center of the fairgrounds.


• The World of Entertainment, with performers from all corners of the globe playing to audiences in the elegant new show houses of the Seattle Center.


• The World of Fine Arts, with priceless masterpieces from Renaissance to the Space Age gathered from the top museums of the world.


• And just plain fun - with the hold-your-breath rides of the Gayway, the slightly naughty adult-entertainment district known as Show Street, plus free shows almost every day in the Memorial Stadium.

By night, the World's Fair - a once-in-a-lifetime experience and Seattle's greatest adventure - is on the launching pad.

Hang on!

Seattle is going into orbit just 13 days from now.