Every summer these 74 acres fill with Bumbershoot crowds, but Seattle Center began as the campus of the 1962 World's Fair and has been the city's civic gathering place ever since. The Century 21 Exposition ran from April 21 to October 21, 1962, drawing nearly 10 million visitors with its theme of science, space, and the city of the future. When the fair ended, Seattle kept the grounds rather than demolishing them, converting the fairgrounds into a public campus of museums and performance venues.
Today the campus holds the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, MoPOP, Pacific Science Center, Climate Pledge Arena — home of the NHL's Seattle Kraken — and dozens of fountains and public art installations. The Seattle Monorail, built for the 1962 fair, still runs its mile-long track to Westlake Center downtown, operating on original 1962 cars — the oldest urban monorail in the country still in daily service. Every summer the grounds fill with Bumbershoot festival crowds; every December, WinterFest draws families from across the region.
Seattle Center is what a city does with its best intentions.