Scruffy Explores World’s Fair Park

A Kid’s Guide to exploring Knoxville History

 

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Scruffy’s Selfie Scavenger Hunt Landmark Descriptions

We hope you were able to find all these locations and get some awesome selfies!  Now let’s find out why these locations are so important to Knoxville.  In case you weren’t able to find one, here is a map of the park with the locations marked.

 

 

Knoxville Museum of Art

Several years after the World’s Fair, the city of Knoxville offered up a piece of the grounds for the development of an art museum. The Knoxville Museum of Art opened in 1990.  You can visit and explore a variety of exhibits and be sure to check out the kid’s area to show off your artistic skills!

 

Splash Pad Fountains

If you are visiting on a warm day, definitely, check out the fountains and playground at the north end of the park. During the fair, this is where the main stage was located encircled by the Court of Flags that still stand there today.

 

The Foundry

The Foundry was constructed in 1865 and became well known for making square-head nails and railroad spikes. The building was renovated for the World’s Fair and became the beloved Strohaus restaurant. After the fair it became and is now an event venue.

 

L&N Stem Academy

The L&N passenger train station was completed in 1905 and served the public for ____years.  It was renovated in in 1982 with restaurants, restrooms, and sitting areas for the World’s Fair.  It was then renovated again after the Fair to serve as s STEM public high school, due to this you will not be able to view the building up close.

 

East Tennessee Veteran’s Memorial

The East Tennessee Veterans Memorial in Knoxville’s World’s Fair Park bears the names of more than 6200 veterans from 35 East Tennessee counties who have died in military service since the beginning of World War I. Over a quarter of a million pounds of granite were used to create the memorial.

 

Statue of Sergei Rachmaninoff

located in the southwestern section of the park is the Western Hemisphere’s only statue of one of the 20th century’s great composers. The Russian sculptor, Viktor Bokarov, donated his work to Knoxville as it was the site of Rachmaninoff’s final piano performance.  During his 1943 show at UT’s Alumni Hall, Rachmaninoff became ill and had to cancel the rest of his tour. He passed away a few weeks later.

 

Candy Factory Lofts 

Located next to the art museum, this five-story building was once one of the factories for the Littlefield & Steere Company, a very successful candy company. In the early 1900’s the company was shipping delicious candies to 21 states and sold more than 400 different kinds of confections. The building was renovated for the World’s Fair and used as offices and rehearsal space for the performers.

Are you craving some candy now? Check out Rocket Fizz on Market Square or Mast General on Gay Street!

 

Tennessee Ampitheater

The architect who designed the Ampitheater was one of the first to use the canvas-like material. You can see designs similar to this if you travel to California’s Sea World or Colorado’s Denver International Airport. Over the years, the Ampitheater has hosted a wide range of concerts and shows, including comedians, symphonies, country music, blues, jazz, and rock bands.  Due to low usage, the Ampitheater was almost torn down in 2002, but luckily was renovated and reopened.

 

Giant Rubik’s Cube

Hungary, the home of the Rubik’s Cube, sent the world’s largest (at the time) Rubik’s Cube with rotating squares for the entrance display at their pavilion.  The 10 ft. cube can now be viewed inside the Knoxville Convention Center right next to World’s Fair Park.

 

Remember if you would like for any of your selfies to possible appear in KHP Media, you can email them (with your parents’ permission of course) to nicolestahl@knoxhistoryproject.org.

Sunsphere Facts

The Sunsphere stands at 266 Feet tall (26 stories) and the ball is 75 feet tall.

There are two 418-step fire staircases, and three elevators contained in the tower.

The tower’s glass panel windows are layered in 24-caret gold dust.  Each pane of glass cost about $1,000 at the time of construction.

The Sunsphere stands proudly with other famous icons constructed specifically for World’s Fairs, most notably Paris’ Eiffel Tower (1889 World’s Fair), the Seattle Space Needle (1962 World’s Fair), and San Antonio’s Tower of Americas (1968 World’s Fair).

The Sunsphere and the Tennessee Ampitheater are the only structures specifically built for the 1982 World’s Fair that still remain today.

The Sunsphere has held restaurants, offices, an event venue, and a museum.

The Sunsphere was featured in an episode of The Simpsons.

The 1983 Miss USA Pageant was held in Knoxville, and the National TV broadcast featured Miss USA 1982, Terri Utley, welcoming viewers from the top of the Sunsphere (you can watch it here: MISS USA 1983 (youtube.com)!

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