1984 World's Fair
| EXPO New Orleans, Louisiana 1984 | |
|---|---|
Space Shuttle Enterprise at 1984 World Fair New Orleans
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| Overview | |
| BIE-class | Specialized exposition |
| Category | International specialized exposition |
| Name | Louisiana World Exposition |
| Motto | World Of Rivers |
| Area | 34 hectares (84 acres) |
| Visitors | 7,335,279 |
| Organized by | Ralph Perlman |
| Participant(s) | |
| Countries | 95 |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| City | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Coordinates | 29°56′40″N 90°03′45″W / 29.94444°N 90.06250°W |
| Timeline | |
| Opening | May 12, 1984 |
| Closure | November 11, 1984 |
| Specialized expositions | |
| Previous | 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville |
| Next | Expo '85 in Tsukuba |
| Universal expositions | |
| Previous | Expo '70 in Osaka |
| Next | Seville Expo '92 in Seville |
| Horticultural expositions | |
| Previous | International Garden Expo 83 in Munich |
| Next | Expo '90 in Osaka |
| Simultaneous | |
| Horticultural (AIPH) | International Garden Festival |
The 1984 Louisiana World Exposition was a World's Fair held in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States. It was held 100 years after the city's earlier World's Fair, the World Cotton Centennial in 1884. It opened on Saturday, May 12, 1984, and ended on Sunday, November 11, 1984. Its theme was "The World of Rivers—Fresh Waters as a Source of Life".
Plagued with attendance problems, the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition has the distinction of being the only exposition to declare bankruptcy during its run. Many blamed the low attendance on the fact that it was staged just two years and two states from Knoxville's 1982 World's Fair, and because it coincided with the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Others may believe that the 1982 opening of Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center may have also drawn more people to Orlando, Florida.
This expo also had the distinction of being the very first World Exposition in the history of expos to have an official fair mascot. Seymore D. Fair, a large white costume pelican, became one of the most recognizable figures of any modern day World Exposition.
There has not been a World's Fair in the United States since the exposition in New Orleans.
The state of Louisiana spent $5 million on the fair; that amount was overseen by Ralph Perlman, the state budget director, who tried to obtain maximum use of the funds. An 84-acre (340,000 m2) site along the Mississippi River was cleared of rundown warehouses, replaced by the structures of the Fair. This was to be a "Class B" exposition as defined by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the international body governing world's fairs. There were no major exhibits such as had been seen at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, which started predictions that the fair could be a flop. Although 7 million guests toured the fair, it was not enough to recoup the $350 million spent to host the event. Paychecks started bouncing, and it was only through government intervention that the gates remained open through the scheduled run. The fair drew 30,000 fewer people in the first month than was predicted. One of the fair's more famous attractions was the Mississippi Aerial River Transit (MART). This was a gondola lift that took visitors across the Mississippi River from the fair site in the Warehouse District to Algiers on the West Bank. Also on display was the space shuttle Enterprise.
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