Coliseum 21 : Going Up!

              - GOING UP!
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By JOSEPH E. GANDY
President, Century 21 Exposition
SETTING A SPECTACULAR pace for construction of
Century 21 Exposition, the state-financed Coliseum 21 is
rising swiftly on the western side of the world fair
grounds in the heart of Seattle.
Appropriately enough, ground-breaking ceremonies
marking the official beginning of building the $70,000,000
Exposition were centered at the Coliseum  last May  12.
Progress since is on schedule and provides a gratifying
thrill of accomplishment that grows with every passing
day.
It also offers heartening assurance that the whole
great space age extravaganza, with all its complexities,
will open according to plan at noon on April 21,  1962.
DURING THE SIX MONTHS the Exposition will operate
it is expected 10,000,000 persons will see it.
As a pace-setter, the Coliseum embodies the whole
motif and theme of the Exposition—Man in the Space Age.
This structure, costing $4,000,000, was designed by
Paul Thiry of Seattle, also principal architect for the entire
Exposition. General contractor is Howard S. Wright
Construction Co. of Seattle.
The Coliseum covers almost four of the Exposition's
35 city clocks.   It is square, 400 feet long on each side.
ITS ROOF IS FORMED by a system of steel girders and
cables springing from the reinforced concrete eave-beam,
to which will be fixed a sheathing of colored, insulated
aluminum panels.
The roof is supported at the eaves only by pillars and
tripods of reinforced concrete, allowing almost four acres
of unobstructed floor space. It rises to a center peak 115
feet-—equal  to  an   11-story  building—above  the  floor.
During the Exposition, the Coliseum will house one
of the six major theme areas of the fair, the World of
Tomorrow exhibit showing how Man will live, work
and play in the twenty-first century. This will be an
application of the science and technology being achieved
today and in the predictable future.
AFTER THE EXPOSITION, the Coliseum is to be taken
over by the City of Seattle for conversion into an 18,000-
seat sports-convention facility in the permanent Civic
Center.
This great contribution of participation by the State of
Washington is guided by the Century 21 Exposition Commission, which has 15 members headed by Chairman
Edward E. Carlson with Alfred R. Rochester as executive
director. Administration of the $7,500,000 program is in
the State Department of Commerce and Economic Development.