Coda: Remembering Trent Alley

Keith Oka drawing at His Desk, Undated, Contributed by Lynn (Oka) Dwyer

Downtown Spokane During the Expo '74 Renovation, 1973

In the 1970s, commercial artist Keith Oka published a book of sketches depicting Trent Avenue before Expo. As the art director for the ad agency responsible for publicizing Expo, Oka’s work helped give form to the ideas proposed by King Cole and other Expo planners. A Japanese American transplant from Seattle, Oka must have been well aware of how the fair he helped visualize would impact the historic home of Spokane’s international district. Although Oka left no words about why he created the book, it presents an early attempt to preserve the history of Trent Avenue. More recently, United We Stand has promoted attempts to remember the Chinese and Japanese communities that inhabited Trent Alley through historical marker projects. While most Spokanites appreciate the natural beauty restored by the World’s Fair, Spokane’s renewal does not need to come at the price of burying the stories of those who lived in the footprint of Expo fairgrounds.

Interviewer: Where was [your parents’ business] at?

Kenneth Kato: 333 Trent Avenue. Not Spokane Falls Boulevard. It will never be Spokane Falls Boulevard.