1982 World's Fair

Concept model of 1982 World's Fair site

Knoxville developers cultivated the idea for a World's Fair in the city after several visited Spokane, Washington, which hosted a World's Fair in 1974. In November 1974, W. Stewart Evans, president of the Downtown Knoxville Association, proposed the idea of the fair to the city government and a group of Knoxville business owners after visiting the exposition in 1974.[1] Evans cited Knoxville's association with energy research and development, spurred by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and the University of Tennessee. This made Knoxville a potential energy center and suggested the promotion of a energy-themed World's Fair as early as 1980. Officials cited the city's location along Interstate 40 and position in the most populated one-third of the United States as crucial advantages.[2]

Knoxville Mayor Kyle Testerman appointed local banker Jake Butcher to lead an exploratory KIEE committee. Butcher served as one of the main driving forces behind the fair. Within the city, Knoxvillians referred to the fair as "Jake's Fair."[1] An administrative body known as the Knoxville Foundation Inc. was established to organize and operate the event.[3] There was skepticism, both locally and nationally, about the ability of Knoxville, described as a "scruffy little city" by The Wall Street Journal in a 1980 news article, to successfully host a World's Fair.[4] This controversy contributed to the development of the term “Scruffy City,” as a nickname synonymous with Knoxville.[5]

Major politicians representing Tennessee across the aisle and financial boosters supported the idea and prompted interest from the Ford Adminstration. Then Secretary of Commerce Elliot Richardson, while inquired, discouraged the idea for Knoxville to host an exposition in 1980, citing a conflict from Los Angeles who planned to host a fair the same year. Richardson would approve for an exposition in Knoxville for the year 1982.[2] Jake Butcher, facing criticism for his efforts for the KIEE, offered a rebuke in a 1981 interview with United Press International, "They called the fair the Jimmy Carter-Jake Butcher pork barrel, but they never revealed that Howard Baker also supports it. I don't expect to get anything personally out of the World's Fair." Intent on running for the 1982 Tennessee gubernational election, Butcher pointed that his opponent then Governor Lamar Alexander was a out-spoken supporter of the fair as well.[6]

Public opinion of Knoxvillians leading up to the fair changed drastically, with a 1979 poll showing a majority of residents disapproved of the fair but later polls showing massive approval.[6]

The fair would prompt investment into minority-owned businesses. Civil rights activists Avon Collins, who served as an executive for the TVA, would ask for a significant portion of the fair proceeds go to Knoxville's African-American community. The fair's iconic red flame-logo apparel was contracted to be produced by Upfront America, a black-owned business. Upfront America would go on to sell more than 500,000 expo shirts.[2] Leading up to the fair, the KIEE committee faced competition in recruiting larger corporate sponsors due to the development of EPCOT Center at the Walt Disney World resort, a permanent scientific-focused amusement park.[6]

Workers and guest gather at the expo site for the topping out ceremony for the U.S. Pavilion, circa 1981.

Most of the KIEE's financial support came from the United States federal government, chipping in an estimated $44 million. The Tennessee state government provided $3 million, and the Knoxville municipal government approved a nearly $12 million bond. Jake Butcher, through his companies, gave approximately $25 million.[6] An additional $224 million in federal and state funding was utilized by the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration to improve the transportation infrastructure system surrounding Knoxville in preparation of the fair. These improvements included the Interstate 640 semi-beltway and improvements to the infamous "Malfunction Junction" of then I-75 (now I-275) and I-40 north of the fair site.[6]

Located along the Second Creek watershed between downtown Knoxville and the University of Tennessee campus, the roughly 70-acre disused Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) railyard was selected as the site for development of the exposition.[2] The railyard would be demolished to make way for the nation-representing pavilions and exhibits, the Tennessee Amphitheater, and the Sunsphere. The L&N station, however, would be redeveloped into a restaurant and office space.[2] Acreage located south of the railyard site near the University of Tennessee campus would be home to the exposition's midway, which included the Great Wheel, the tallest Ferris wheel in the world at the time.[2] A gondola system was developed to provide rapid connections to the exhibit and midway areas of the fairgrounds.[2] For the design of the Sunsphere, the KIEE recruited Knoxville-based architectural firm Community Techtonics, which was known in the region for its design of the Clingmans Dome Observation Tower in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the "SkyMart" elevated-sidewalk system in downtown Morristown, nearly 50 miles east of Knoxville.[7] Construction would break ground in 1980.[8]

Regarding recruitment for country sponsors, the KIEE received confirmation for participation from western European countries including the United Kingdom, France, West Germany, Italy, and the 10-nation European Economic Community, along with Australia, Mexico, Japan, and the People's Republic of China. China's participation proved as a historical moment given the country's shift into a more capitalist economy, and the KIEE being the first exposition involving China since 1904.[9] The KIEE invited the Soviet Union for participation and a swimming competition against the United States, but the invitation was relinquished following the Soviet Union's military invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.[9] In total, 25 nations were signed to participate at the 1982 World's Fair by its opening.[9]

Children using a touch-screen computer at the U.S. Pavilion at Expo 82

The 1982 World's Fair brought the debut of several inventions and concepts, including touch screen display screens,[28] Tetra Pak boxed shelf-stable milk, and the Cherry Coke flavor by Coca-Cola.[29]

Oil corporation Texaco showcased the concept of pay at the pump, as part of the advances in energy.[30]

The Knoxville-based fast food chain, Petro's Chili & Chips made their debut at the fair. Today, the chain consists of several locations in the state with most primarily located in East Tennessee.[31]

Hotels and other accommodations in Knoxville were not permitted to take reservations directly. Room reservations for everything from hotels to houseboats were sold in a package with fair admission tickets through the first eleven days of the fair, and were handled by a central bureau, Knoxvisit. Its financial and administrative troubles resulted in reservations being taken over by Property Leasing & Management, Inc. (PLM), .[32] It also struggled with the operation and filed for bankruptcy.[33][34]

Jake Butcher's financial services corporation, United American Bank (UAB) failed shortly after the exposition in 1983. UAB had previously been raided by federal banking regulators the day after the fair's closure.[35] On February 14, 1983, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized control of the bank due to irregularities in its financial records. This action caused public speculation that the bank's failure was due in part to Butcher's financing of the World's Fair.[36]

World's Fair Park in 2019, with the Sunsphere and Tennessee Amphitheater in the background

Given the success of the fair, Knoxville residents speculated that the fair would put the city on track to become a major hub city in the Southeastern United States such as Atlanta or Charlotte.[37] However, growth in Knoxville was relatively low compared to that of Chattanooga, which received national attention for its riverfront redevelopment projects.[37]

The U.S. Pavilion would operate as a soccer arena, but in 1991, the city of Knoxville demolished the U.S. Pavilion in a controlled demolition. It had developed structural problems that could not be safely resolved after years of neglect. The site of the pavilion was cleared and developed for a parking lot along Cumberland Avenue,[38] adjacent to the site of the Knoxville Convention Center in World's Fair Park.[30]

The site of the Korean and Saudi Arabian pavilions and the Tennessee Gas Industries exhibit was redeveloped into a performance lawn and hosted the Hot Summer Nights rock music festival from 1991 to 1999, when the Knoxville municipal government indefinitely suspended concerts on the lawn. Ashley Capps, a Knoxville entertainment coordinator, cited the suspension of Hot Summer Nights at World's Fair Park as the start of the iconic Bonnaroo Music Festival.[39]

The site of the Japanese Pavilion became the new location for the Knoxville Museum of Art.[30] The Elm Tree Theater located adjacent to the former pavilion was added as part of the Knoxville Museum of Art's courtyard. The elm tree was later struck by lightning and was cut down. The courtyard of the theater has since remained empty. Many of the pavilion sites and the fair's midway located south of the main park were given to the University of Tennessee for future campus extensions and student parking.[30]

By 1996, World's Fair Park was subject to 14 plans to redevelop the site, all of which were unsuccessful.[40] In the same year, Knoxville and the 1982 World's Fair were featured prominently in an episode of The Simpsons, "Bart on the Road". In the episode, Bart, having obtained a fake, ID, travels to Knoxville with his friends to visit the fair after seeing an advertisement in a tourism brochure, only to learn that it closed a decade before. Nelson frustratedly throws a stone at the Sunsphere, causing it to collapse on the group's rental car, stranding them in Knoxville.[41] Knoxville municipal personnel would criticize the show's portrayal of the city and World's Fair Park, as at the time, the Sunsphere and the main facilities at the park were in good condition and received regular maintenance.[40] The last known attempt of redeveloping the fair site came in late 1996, as a mixed-use development named after the Tivoli gardens in Copenhagen.[40]

In 2000, the park was closed for two years for the construction of the Knoxville Convention Center in the space formerly occupied by Rich's/Millers Garage, the site of the KUB Substation exhibit, and the site of America's Electric Energy Exhibit.[30]

The Tennessee Amphitheater, the only structure other than the Sunsphere that currently remains from the World's Fair, was condemned to demolition in 2002.[42] Popular sentiment from Knoxville residents and officials supported restoring it, and the theater was renovated between 2005 and 2007, reopening in 2007.[43] In 2007, the amphitheater was voted one of the top fifteen architectural works of East Tennessee by the East Tennessee chapter of the American Institute of Architects.[44]

In the summer of 2002, the World's Fair Park was reopened to general events and concerts, such as Earth Fest and Greek Fest. An Independence Day celebration is held on the park lawns every year, with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra playing a free concert with a massive fireworks display. In May 2007, the East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS) opened a temporary exhibit in its museum located in Downtown Knoxville, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the World's Fair. On July 4, 2007, one of the annual celebrations was held in conjunction with festivities commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the 1982 World's Fair. The following day, July 5, 2007, the Sunsphere's observation deck reopened to the public after renovations.[30] In 2020, rock band The Dirty Guv'nahs curated the Southern Skies Music Festival at the performance lawn of World's Fair Park. Postponed from its original start in May 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival is set to debut in May 2022.[45]

In 2022, the East Tennessee History Museum and the University of Tennessee's Hodges Library would open temporary exhibits regarding the KIEE commemorating its 40th anniversary.[46][26]

A weekend celebration of the 40th anniversary of the KIEE will be held during the weekend of May 20-22 of 2022, including a full-day festival organized by Knoxville's convention and visitors bureau.[47]

Many collectible items were made specifically for the World's Fair, ranging from cups, trays, plates, belt buckles, and several other objects. Some of the more notable items include:

• With the focus of the World's Fair on technology and energy, video games of the era were also featured at the Fair. In the arcade area, attendees could find seven video arcade game tokens that had been minted for the Fair, each depicting a different and popular game of the time. The seven games on each of the tokens are Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Qix, Gorf, Scramble, and Donkey Kong.[48]
• A special Coca-Cola pin was given to 500 dignitaries on opening day.
• Worlds Fair Beer was also released at the beginning of the fair. 250,000 cases of the beer was sold during the fair's duration, totaling nearly six-million cans sold over the six months. Rick Kuhlman, who was a marketing director for a beer wholesaler at the time, had come up with the idea for the beer. He had to pre-sell 10,000 cases of the beer to pay for the initial batch. The beer would go on to be released in nine different colored cans, beginning with red, then blue, and eventually, green, brown, gold, black, purple, yellow, and orange. Each color represented its own production batch and when a color was sold out, that color was finished. The beer was often purchased and never drunk, as many fair-goers speculated that the beer cans would one day be a rare collectible.[49] To observe the 35th anniversary of the fair, World's Fair Beer was brought back into production in May 2017 and is available at various bars and breweries around Knoxville.[50]

• 
  Australian Pavilion
• 
  Baptist Pavilion and Waters of the World
• 
  Sunsphere
• 
  Tennessee River, Australian and Canadian Pavilions and Midway
• 
  U.S. Pavilion
• 
  Tennessee Amphitheater
• 
  KUB Substation Exhibit and U.S. Pavilion

• List of world's fairs
• National Conservation Exposition

• 1982 World's Fair Research Site, by Bruce Schulman
• Official website of the BIE
• European Patent Office
• 1982 World's Fair 25th Anniversary site (archived)
• ExpoMuseum's 1982 World's Fair Section