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Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
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 The main entrance and South Wing of the Kentucky Exposition Center | |
 Interactive map of Kentucky Exposition Center | |
| Coordinates | 38°12′0″N 85°44′31″W / 38.20000°N 85.74194°W |
|---|---|
| Owner | Kentucky State Fair Board |
| Operator | Kentucky State Fair Board |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1956 |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC), is a large multi-use facility in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Originally built in 1956.[1] It is overseen by the Kentucky Venues and is the sixth largest facility of its type in the U.S., with 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m2) of indoor space. KEC has two arenas (Broadbent Arena and Freedom Hall), almost 700,000 sq. ft of Class A exhibit space, and nearly 500 acres of outdoor planning space (on grass and concrete). A majority of the 1.3 million square feet is contiguous.[2][3]
Cardinal Stadium, formerly an on-site baseball/football field with a capacity of up to 37,925, was home to the University of Louisville football and Louisville Redbirds minor league baseball teams. Freedom Hall is one of two on-site arenas, and provided 18,875 seats for the University of Louisville men's and women's basketball teams until they moved downtown to the new KFC Yum! Center for the 2010–11 season. Broadbent Arena is also located within the complex and as has a maximum capacity of 6,600. The site has 1,000 permanent horse stalls, 720 temporary stalls and capacity for livestock as well.
KEC hosts a number of events, including the Kentucky State Fair, the North American International Livestock Exposition, the VEX Robotics World Championships and the National Farm Machinery Show. It is located adjacent to I-65 and the Henry Watterson Expressway, as well as the Louisville International Airport.
Past sporting events held at KEC include six NCAA final Fours, the minor league world series, and the Bluegrass Bowl, a failed attempt to start an annual college football bowl game. The venue was also home to the Fairgrounds Motor Speedway which hosted the ARCA Racing Series and ASA National Tour from 1961 to 1979 including long-running races the International 500 and the Bluegrass 300.
In 2004, Louisville was selected as one of five cities in the United States to host the Dew Tour, an extreme sports franchise that started in 2005. Titled the Panasonic Open, the event was held at the Kentucky Exposition Center from June 8–12. The event returned to Louisville in 2006.
In February 2006 the facility changed its name from Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center to simply Kentucky Exposition Center to "more accurately reflect the facility's mission."
In April 2006, demolition began on KEC's East Wing, which was built as part of the original facility in 1956. It was replaced with the renamed North Wing, a more modern Class "A" exhibition space with higher ceilings and fewer support poles, similar to the South Wing. The new facility, also features a skywalk, allowing those parking in the rear of the facility to access the lobby without going through the new hall. The wing was completed in October 2007 and is currently being used by most events staged at the complex.[4]
| Authority control databases: Geographic |
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Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
The Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC), is a large multi-use facility in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Originally built in 1956. It is overseen by the Kentucky Venues and is the sixth largest facility of its type in the U.S., with 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m2) of indoor space. KEC has two arenas (Broadbent Arena and Freedom Hall), almost 700,000 sq. ft of Class A exhibit space, and nearly 500 acres of outdoor planning space (on grass and concrete). A majority of the 1.3 million square feet is contiguous. Cardinal Stadium, formerly an on-site baseball/football field with a capacity of up to 37,925, was home to the University of Louisville football and Louisville Redbirds minor league baseball teams. Freedom Hall is one of two on-site arenas, and provided 18,875 seats for the University of Louisville men's and women's basketball teams until they moved downtown to the new KFC Yum! Center for the 2010–11 season. Broadbent Arena is also located within the complex and as has a maximum capacity of 6,600. The site has 1,000 permanent horse stalls, 720 temporary stalls and capacity for livestock as well. KEC hosts a number of events, including the Kentucky State Fair, the North American International Livestock Exposition, the VEX Robotics World Championships and the National Farm Machinery Show. It is located adjacent to I-65 and the Henry Watterson Expressway, as well as the Louisville International Airport. Past sporting events held at KEC include six NCAA final Fours, the minor league world series, and the Bluegrass Bowl, a failed attempt to start an annual college football bowl game. The venue was also home to the Fairgrounds Motor Speedway which hosted the ARCA Racing Series and ASA National Tour from 1961 to 1979 including long-running races the International 500 and the Bluegrass 300. In 2004, Louisville was selected as one of five cities in the United States to host the Dew Tour, an extreme sports franchise that started in 2005. Titled the Panasonic Open, the event was held at the Kentucky Exposition Center from June 8–12. The event returned to Louisville in 2006. In February 2006 the facility changed its name from Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center to simply Kentucky Exposition Center to "more accurately reflect the facility's mission." In April 2006, demolition began on KEC's East Wing, which was built as part of the original facility in 1956. It was replaced with the renamed North Wing, a more modern Class "A" exhibition space with higher ceilings and fewer support poles, similar to the South Wing. The new facility, also features a skywalk, allowing those parking in the rear of the facility to access the lobby without going through the new hall. The wing was completed in October 2007 and is currently being used by most events staged at the complex.
The Kentucky International Convention Center (KICC), formerly called the Commonwealth Convention Center, is a large multi-use facility in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The KICC, along with the Kentucky Exposition Center, hosts conventions for the Louisville area. It was built on the site of the Tyler Block and opened in 1977. The facility underwent a major renovation from 2016 to 2018, seeking more space and a more inviting presence. While the convention center does not have a permanent arena, it has hosted various sporting events, including the 2002 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament and the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament from 1995 to 2000. It also hosted select University of Louisville women's basketball games from the 1989–90 season through 1992–93, and again in the 1994–95, 2000–01, and 2008–09 seasons. One of the exhibit halls was temporarily turned into an arena, with seats for about 7,000.
Kentucky Kingdom, formerly known as Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, is a theme park in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The 67-acre (27 ha) park includes a collection of amusement rides and the Hurricane Bay water park. Kentucky Kingdom is at the intersection of Interstate 65 and Interstate 264, sharing a parking lot with the Kentucky Exposition Center. In 1977, the Kentucky State Fair Board announced plans to build a theme park on the grounds of the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center. The park's construction, overseen by Kentucky Entertainment Limited, began in 1986 and cost $12 million. Kentucky Kingdom opened to the public on May 23, 1987. The park went bankrupt after one season, and was reopened in 1990 by businessman Ed Hart. Due to loan payment challenges, Kentucky Kingdom was sold in 1998 to Six Flags, which operated it until closing it in 2009. Hart reopened the park in May 2014. Seven years later, the park's operating rights were sold to Herschend. Kentucky Kingdom is owned by the Kentucky State Fair Board and operated by Herschend. Kentucky Kingdom has six roller coasters: Flying Fox, Hollyhock and Roll, Kentucky Flyer, Lightning Run, Wind Chaser, and Woodland Run. The park has opened many first-of-its-kind roller coasters. T2 was the first Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster in North America. Lightning Run was the first Chance Rides Hyper GT-X Coaster in the world. Wind Chaser was the first roller coaster in the U.S. with a barrel roll drop.
The Kentucky State Fair is the official state fair of Kentucky which takes place at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. More than 600,000 fairgoers fill the 520 acres (2.1 km2) of indoor and outdoor exhibits; activities include sampling a wide variety of food and riding several roller coasters during the 11-day event. The Kentucky State Fair includes competitions in crafts such as quilt-making, homebrew beers, and home-made pastries, as well as fine arts and agricultural competitions. Exhibitor spaces are available and are popular with area and regional businesses. The Kentucky State Fair boasts 1,200,000 square feet (110,000 m2) of indoor space that often feature exhibits that include acrobats, magical illusionists, balloon sculptors and home improvement demonstrations. The Kentucky State Fair World's Championship Horse Show is one of the fair's events.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Shirley Chisholm, elected in 1968.
