Bracing for a Blackout at the Fruit Fair
After years of frustration, Walla Walla's fruit fair management installs gas backups to keep the pavilion illuminated.
The fruit fair management is preparing for a possible break in the electric light system by installing a complete gas lighting system in the fruit fair pavilion. Workmen yesterday completed laying the gas mains and fixtures were installed today. Fifteen hundred incandescent lights will illuminate the big pavilion this year. Secretary Van De Water said, 'This thing of having to close down on account of imperfect lights will be a thing of the past. If the electric system breaks we will have gas and plenty of it.'
“This thing of having to close down on account of imperfect lights will be a thing of the past.”
Reliability of public infrastructure remains a central civic tension in Walla Walla, as fairgrounds and event centers today continue to balance modern expectations with aging systems. The anxiety over a dark pavilion highlights the high stakes of town promotion in the early 20th century.
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