World's Fair Park is a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

in downtown

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

. The park sits on the former fairgrounds of the

1982 World's Fair The 1982 World's Fair, officially known as the Knoxville International Energy Exposition (KIEE) and simply as Energy Expo '82 and Expo '82, was an international exposition held in Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Focu ...

hosted in Knoxville. Today, the park is home to the

Sunsphere The Sunsphere is a tall hexagonal steel truss structure located in World's Fair Park in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It is topped with the gold-colored glass sphere that served as the symbol of the 1982 World's Fair. Directly ...

and the Tennessee Amphitheater, the two remaining structures from the exposition.

Overview

The park features a festival and performance lawn, a small lake with a fountain, and the

. The performance lawn is used for cultural and community events. Knoxville's Public Building Authority manages the park, except for the Sunsphere. The

Knoxville Museum of Art The Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA), is an art museum in Knoxville, Tennessee. It specializes in historical and contemporary art pieces from the East Tennessee region. According to its mission statement, the museum "celebrates the art and artists ...

, the

Knoxville Convention Center The Knoxville Convention Center is a 500,000-square-foot convention center in Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, occupying the former location of the US Pavilion of the 1982 World's Fair. It offers of exhibit space. Design The building ...

, and the L&N STEM Academy, at the former Louisville and Nashville station, surround the park. To the west of the park borders a building known as the Candy Factory, which formerly housed the South, Littlefield & Steere Company and its factory. During the fair, the Candy Factory building was used by administration. Recently, the building was renovated into office, gallery, and rehearsal space, and later into condominiums. The Knoxville District K&A Line, operated by the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

, starts at northernmost part of the park and ends in Maryville in nearby Blount County. As of 2019, the tracks are being considered by urban developers and city councilmembers for a conversion into a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

line.

History

Before the fair, the site was used as a railroad yard. The land was converted into park space for the 1982 World's Fair. After the fair closed in October 1982, the site was cleaned up; the city had to demolish pavilions, remove graffiti, and remove homeless individuals from the remaining abandoned buildings. Throughout the rest of the 1980s and into the early 1990s, the Sunsphere and U.S. Pavilion were left without tenants. In 1991, the U.S. Pavilion was demolished by implosion due to structural damage caused by neglect. In 2007, the Sunsphere began to see occupancy. Today, it currently houses offices and a public observation deck. In 2018, the Knoxville City Council approved a $2.5-million renovation of the Sunsphere and Amphitheater, updating the Sunsphere's elevators, replacing HVAC units, repairing windows, and repainting the exterior of both structures. In 2019, the park's performance lawn closed for a $3 million renovation, and reopened later in July of the same year. In 2019, the Knoxville Marathon's finish line was relocated to the park, due to renovations at

Neyland Stadium Neyland Stadium ( ) is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several National Footba ...

, the location of the original finish line.

Gallery

File:Sunsphere 01.jpg, The Sunsphere, as seen from the southern part of the park. File:World's Fair Park-L&N, Knoxville.jpg, Northern portion of the park, with the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial in the center, World's Fair Exhibition Hall to the bottom right, and L&N STEM Academy to the upper right. File:World's Fair Park Knoxville.jpg, Southern portion of the park, with the Knoxville Convention Center at the left and the Tennessee Amphitheater at the right File:East TN vet memorial.jpg, East Tennessee Veterans Memorial located in the northern portion of the park.

References

External links

* {{Knoxville, Tennessee 1980s establishments in Tennessee Fairgrounds in the United States Geography of Knoxville, Tennessee Parks in Tennessee Tourist attractions in Knoxville, Tennessee World's fair sites in Tennessee 1982 World's Fair