1982 World's Fair

The first World's Fair to be held in Tennessee occurred in the state's capital, Nashville, in 1897. 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". An administrative body known as the Knoxville Foundation Inc. was established to organize and operate the event. 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. This controversy contributed to the development of the term "Scruffy City", as a nickname synonymous with Knoxville. Major politicians representing Tennessee across the aisle and financial boosters supported the idea and prompted interest from the Ford Administration. 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. The fair would prompt investment into minority-owned businesses. Civil rights activist Avon Rollins, 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. Most of the KIEE's financial support came from the United States federal government which provided an estimated $44 million in funding. 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. 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. 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. Construction would break ground in 1980. 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 historic given the country's shift to a more capitalist economy; the KIEE would be the first exposition involving China since 1904. In total, 25 nations were signed to participate at the 1982 World's Fair by its opening. However, only 22 of those signed took part by opening day of the KIEE. == Fair operations ==

Opening day On May 1, 1982, the 1982 World's Fair opened to a crowd of 87,000 with the theme "Energy Turns the World". Television commercials broadcast prior to the fair used the marketing tagline "You've Got To Be There!" The opening ceremony was broadcast on local and regional television stations, with President Ronald Reagan arriving to open the fair. A six-month pass to the fair sold for $100 ($ in dollars). visitors from all over the United States and the world, making it among the best attended World's Fairs in U.S. history among those sanctioned by the BIE. It had the highest attendance among the four Specialized Expos held in the United States. It made a profit of $57, far short of the $5 million surplus projected by organizers and boosters. Participating nations included Australia, Belgium, Canada, The People's Republic of China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, People's Republic of Hungary, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, and West Germany. Panama, a late-comer to the fair, never occupied its pavilion space, which was eventually unofficially occupied by a group of Caribbean island nations. Communication problems between Panama and fair officials delayed occupancy, then it was announced that the country would not show due to "economic problems". The Peruvian exhibit featured a mummy that was unwrapped and studied at the fair. The Egyptian exhibit featured ancient artifacts valued at over US$30 million. Hungary, the home country of the Rubik's Cube, sent the world's largest Rubik's Cube with rotating squares for the entrance display to its pavilion. The Rubik's Cube remains in World's Fair Park, where it is on display at the Knoxville Convention Center. Every night of the fair, at 10 pm, a 10-minute fireworks display was presented that could be seen over much of Knoxville. Tetra Pak showcased its boxed shelf-stable milk. Coca-Cola organized a measure of several flavored mixtures of its traditional Coke soda during the exposition. Visitors would test lime, lemon, vanilla, and cherry flavors. By the end of the KIEE, Coca-Cola found that the cherry-flavored soda was the most popular. As a result, Coca-Cola Cherry would be distributed in 1985 as a result of its successful introduction at the 1982 World's Fair. Oil corporation Texaco showcased the concept of pay at the pump, as part of the advances in energy. An early rendition of the cordless telephone was introduced to the public at the KIEE. The Ford Motor Company showcased a Lincoln Town Car with a built-in car phone and a concept car known as the AFV, which relied on alternative fuel consumption. One-hour photographic processing was introduced by Kodak and used by visitors of the exposition. Geodesic dome housing exhibits were showcased to promote sustainable development to confront the then-ongoing energy crisis. Events The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots played a preseason football game at Neyland Stadium on August 14, 1982. The Steelers won the game 24–20 to a crowd of 93,251, making it the fourth-best-attended NFL game in history. An NBA exhibition game took place between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers at Stokely Athletic Center on October 23, 1982. == Difficulties ==

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 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), which also struggled with the operation and filed for bankruptcy. Jake Butcher's financial services corporation, United American Bank (UAB), failed shortly after the exposition in 1983. UAB had been raided by federal banking regulators the day after the fair's closure. 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. == Legacy ==

The theme of the fair, "Energy Turns the World," is still very relevant to the growth and focus of Knoxville's economy. With the presence of the TVA and the Oak Ridge National Lab, jobs and businesses in the energy sector, such as electric car and battery manufacturing, have continued to be economic drivers. The U.S. Pavilion operated as a soccer arena until its demolition by the city of Knoxville in 1991 in a controlled implosion. 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, adjacent to the site of the Knoxville Convention Center in World's Fair Park. The site of the Japanese Pavilion became the new location for the Knoxville Museum of Art in 1990. 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. 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. Popular sentiment from Knoxville residents and officials supported restoring it, and the theater was renovated between 2005 and 2007, reopening in 2007. 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. 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. 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 debuted on May 14, 2022. In 2022, the ETHS and the University of Tennessee's Hodges Library would open temporary exhibits regarding the KIEE commemorating its 40th anniversary. Local media covered the event and provided prior coverage of the original event. == Collectibles ==

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. • ''World's 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. To observe the 35th anniversary of the fair, World's Fair Beer was brought back into production in May 2017 for a limited time at several Knoxville breweries and pubs. == Gallery ==

File:Australian Pavilion.jpg|Australian Pavilion File:Baptist Pavilion & Pond.jpg|Baptist Pavilion and Waters of the World File:Sunsphere 02.jpg|Sunsphere File:Sunsphere View of Tennessee River & Amusement Area.jpg|Tennessee River, Australian and Canadian Pavilions and Midway File:Sunsphere View of US Pavilion.jpg|U.S. Pavilion File:Tennessee Ampitheatre.jpg|Tennessee Amphitheater File:US Pavilion.jpg|KUB Substation Exhibit and U.S. Pavilion == See also ==