INB Performing Arts Center, Performing arts center in downtown Spokane, United States.
The First Interstate Center for the Arts is a 2,609-seat theater on the south bank of the Spokane River in downtown Spokane, adjacent to the Spokane Convention Center. It opened in 1974 as the Washington State Pavilion Opera House for Expo '74 and is owned by the Spokane Public Facilities District.
Built from 1972 to 1974 for Expo '74, the venue opened on May 1, 1974, as the Washington State Pavilion Opera House with a gala featuring soprano Roberta Peters, New York City Ballet dancer Edward Villella and Lucette Aldous. The City of Spokane took over operations after the fair, and Governor Dixy Lee Ray signed the ownership transfer bill on April 20, 1979. The Spokane Public Facilities District assumed ownership on September 2, 2003.
The building opened on May 1, 1974, as the Washington State Pavilion Opera House, and its gala featured soprano Roberta Peters of the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet dancer Edward Villella and Lucette Aldous. Its name has changed with its sponsors: Spokane Opera House, then INB Performing Arts Center in 2006, then First Interstate Center for the Arts in 2018.
The venue sits on the south bank of the Spokane River next to the Spokane Convention Center in downtown Spokane. Enter from the river side; the box office and main doors face the convention center plaza. For large touring shows, allow extra time to walk from nearby downtown parking garages.
The building was erected in two years, 1972 to 1974, as the Washington State Pavilion Opera House for Expo '74, the world's fair held in Spokane. Its opening gala on May 1, 1974 featured Metropolitan Opera soprano Roberta Peters, New York City Ballet dancer Edward Villella and Lucette Aldous.
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