The Press Pavilion...

Well this was a bit of a story. We were told by the Parks Department that they would call us so we could come out and film the demolition. We filled out all the paperwork but I had a bad feeling that they were not going to call. Finally we got an anonymous call saying if you want to film this thing you better come out right now because it is almost gone. By the time we got there you can see that we missed the best part. I had really wanted to film them taking the distinctive roof off. In some of the stills you can see what is left of the roof.

This was kinda sad for us. This was a very important building as far as Fair history goes and it was a very attractive and functional building. But no one seems to care about this stuff as far as the city goes. We had been given a tour of the building by the Police Department and it was in pretty good shape inside. There [were] a lot of cool rooms including the main press room from the time of the Fair which was like a big auditorium. It was so cool. I really wanted to get the door handles from the front door but they were gone by the time we got there. Probably taken for scrap. They were aluminum.

The saddest thing to me was that the Police Department had not even bothered to lower the American flag and take it down. You will see it in one of the shots. This was unbelievable to me. I don't know ... I guess I'm overly sentimental about such things. I remember we had to burn a flag when I was a Cub Scout because it had touched the ground. Also, growing up in the 60s I remember the big deal the police made out of the flag and how people were being arrested left and right for sewing it on their pants or whatever. So, not to get long winded, this was a bit shocking and sad to me. As you can see, I went in there and took the flag and have it now!

The for sale sign was somebody's idea of a joke I suppose. One of the freezes shows the Unisphere.

Curtis Cates

August 28, 2000