The city of Spokane is making progress in repairing butterflies in Riverfront Park

The famous statue has already gone through phase I of the repairs. Now the city has approval to negotiate a contract for the final draft.

The city of Spokane is making progress on the redesign and repair of the butterfly sculpture in Riverfront Park. The design for the new butterfly has been approved and the city is now looking for a building contractor.

As early as January, strong winds at speeds of over 70 miles per hour tore over the famous sculpture that was built for Expo ’74 in Spokane. It was previously said that the sculptures could handle winds in excess of 110 miles per hour.

Now Spokane Parks and Recreation is working to restore the sculpture to its pre-storm splendor. In May 2021, the park board approved a $ 27,000 repair. It was funded by the Spokane Parks Foundation campaign for Riverfront Spokane.

One of the engineers involved in the new project helped repair the original World’s Fair butterfly in the 1990s. He became increasingly interested in the new technology that was used in the repairs.

“There are some really, really fun types of fabric they make these days,” said Craig Lee. “All kinds of interesting things that we’re investigating. It’s one of those opportunities to be involved in something special and you can kind of say, ‘Thank you Spokane for being a great place to be.'”

He was the main engineer and consultant on the project.

Spokane Parks and Recreation showed what the new design will look like with the new wings. The frame will also be different to allow for rotational movement. The butterfly is also getting smaller. The new grand piano will be more lifelike and colorful.

On January 13, a devastating storm severely damaged the Expo ’74 lilac butterfly on the north bank of @SpoRiverfrontPk after the original welds broke under the extreme force of the winds of over 70 km / h. Get the latest update to work to bring the iconic butterfly back. https://t.co/7ICr1JC7yH pic.twitter.com/UKN1clIFyf

– City of Spokane (@SpokaneCity) August 24, 2021