Riverfront Park, created after Expo '74 and occupying the same site, is in downtown Spokane and the site of some of Spokane's largest events. The park has views of the Spokane Falls and holds a number of civic attractions, including a skyride, a rebuilt gondola lift that carries visitors across the falls from high above the river gorge. The park also includes the historic hand-carved Riverfront Park Looff carousel created in 1909 by Charles I. D. Looff. Riverfront Park is currently being renovated and modernized (as of October 2016). Manito Park and Botanical Gardens on Spokane's South Hill features the Duncan Gardens, a classical European Renaissance-style garden and the Nishinomiya Japanese Garden designed by Nagao Sakurai. Riverside State Park, close to downtown, is a site for outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain biking, and horse riding.