Expo '88
Expo 88 was a Worlds Fair held in Brisbane, Australia between April 30 and October 30 1988. The theme of the Expo was "Leisure in the Age of Technology." The $AUD625 million fair was the largest event of the bi-centennial celebrations of European settlement to Australia that year.The exposition was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on April 30, 1988, to much fanfare.
The fair attracted more than 18 million visits, including staff and VIPs, more than double the predicted 7.8 million, and was considered a turning point in the history of Brisbane, who had recently successfully hosted the XIIth Commonwealth Games in 1982.
Chair & CEO of the Exposition Authority was the well-liked former State Government Minister, the Hon Sir Llewellyn Edwards, who over looked 30, 000 accredited staff.
Despite late entrants into the Exposition due to domestic political measures, the Exposition attracted some 80 pavilions, of which 36 were from international-level governments. Most expensive pavilion was Japan ($26AUD million), followed by Queensland and Australia.
The massive sun-sails that graced the Exposition site, giving shade from the Queensland sun, became the icon of the Exposition, and were removed at it's end.
The other icon from the Exposition, the 88-metre high "Night Companion" was purchased by flamboyant Brisbane businessman Stefan Ackerie and was relocatged to his corporate headquarters in South Brisbane, just a few hundred metres from the former expo site, where it remains a prominent Brisbane landmark.
After the end of Expo, various contingency plans were mooted as to possible future developments. One proposal that was turned down was for a 'second' CBD-area to be developed, however this proposal was rejected.
The new parklands were opened in 1992, entitled "South Bank", some four years after the Exposition, and featured a large artificial beach and salt-water pool. The web-site for the Park and Corporation is "http://www.south-bank.net.au"
Only the Nepalese Pavilion, a traditional three-storey hand-made wooden replica of a famous Pagoda in Kathmandu, remains from the Exposition, albeit moved to a new location beside the Brisbane River.
The exposition averaged 100, 000 visitors a day - not bad for a city only populated with 1 million persons. Highest turn-out was some 184,000 persons on the pen-ultimate day of the Exposition, October 29, 1988.
Trivia? 2,000 km of telephone wire were used in the construction of the site and $25million Australian dollars were spent on commissioning, purchasing and loaning some 100 works of sculpture for the Exposition.
On April 30, 2004, a commemorative foundation and web-site for the Exposition was launched - sixteen years after the official opening ceremony. Further information concerning "Foundation Expo '88" can be found at:
http://hometown.aol.com/foundationexpo88