Knoxville's biggest party

April 30, 2007

By GENE PATTERSON
6 News Anchor/Reporter

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- From May to October 1982, more than 11 million people attended the World's Fair in Knoxville. On the 25th anniversary, 6 News looks back at Knoxville's biggest party.

The area where the fair was staged had undergone a major renovation when President Ronald Reagan officially opened the World's Fair on May 1, 1982.

Demolition of the old Fowler's Real Estate building was the first physical step in the redevelopment of lower Second Creek.

The 70 acre blighted rail yard with its deteriorating Victorian homes was just steps from downtown Knoxville. It wasn't exactly the image the city wanted.

"It was an underused freight yard with old industrial buildings and it was kind of an ugly and dangerous place," Jack Neely says.

Neely worked crowd control at the fair. Now, he's the resident historian at Metro Pulse.

Neely remembers a fair that offered a variety of entertainment, food of all types and lots of people. "I really enjoyed the fair. Even when we made fun of it, we enjoyed it a great deal."

Making fun of the fair and Knoxville was a major national sport in the months leading up to the opening.

The Wall Street Journal, questioning the audacity of Knoxville hosting a world event, described it as that "scruffy little city on the Tennessee river."

That remark only galvanized community efforts to make the fair successful.

And it was. By the time the doors opened, 23 countries, a number of states and many corporations had signed on.

The World's Fair cost the city $42 million to put on but it generated more than half a billion dollars in economic development.

And Scruffy City Publishing is the name of the publisher responsible for Jack Neely's two collections, "Knoxville's Secret History" and "Secret History II."