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Kentucky Exposition Center

1956 establishments in KentuckyBuildings and structures completed in 1956Buildings and structures in Louisville, KentuckyConvention centers in KentuckyFairgrounds in the United States
Kentucky State FairTourist attractions in Louisville, Kentucky
KentuckyExpositionCenter
KentuckyExpositionCenter

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, 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 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 which started 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.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Kentucky Exposition Center (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Kentucky Exposition Center
Phillips Lane, Louisville

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N 38.2 ° E -85.741944444444 °
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Kentucky Exposition Center

Phillips Lane 937
40209 Louisville
Kentucky, United States
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Kentucky Kingdom
Kentucky Kingdom

Kentucky Kingdom, formerly known as Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, is an amusement 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 located 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 in total. 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 to Six Flags in 1998 who operated the park until 2009. Five years after Kentucky Kingdom closed, Ed Hart reopened the park in May 2014. Seven years after Kentucky Kingdom reopened, the park's operating rights were sold to Herschend Family Entertainment. Kentucky Kingdom is owned by the Kentucky State Fair Board, and operated by Herschend Family Entertainment. Kentucky Kingdom has five roller coasters: Kentucky Flyer, Lightning Run, Roller Skater, Storm Chaser, and Thunder Run. The park has opened many first-of-its-kind roller coasters. T3 was the first Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster in North America. Lightning Run was the first Chance Rides Hyper GT-X Coaster in the world. Storm Chaser was the first roller coaster in the United States to feature a barrel roll drop.