Kentucky Exposition Center
Encyclopedia
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is overseen by the Kentucky State Fair Board, and is one of the ten largest facilities of its type in the U.S., with over 1200000 square feet (111,483.6 m²) of indoor space.
Cardinal Stadium
Cardinal Stadium
Cardinal Stadium is the name of a former college and minor league baseball and college football stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. It is on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, and was called Fairgrounds Stadium when it first opened its doors to baseball in 1957.The lone Bluegrass Bowl was...
, an on-site baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
/football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
field with a capacity of up to 47,925, was formerly home to the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and Louisville Redbirds minor league baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
teams. Freedom Hall
Freedom Hall
Freedom Hall is a multipurpose arena in Louisville, Kentucky, on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, which is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky...
is one of two on-site arenas, and provided 19,000 seats for the University of Louisville men's and women's basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
teams until they moved downtown
Downtown Louisville
Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jacob Streets to the south, and 9th Street to the west...
to the new KFC Yum! Center
KFC Yum! Center
The KFC Yum! Center is a US $238 million, 22,000-seat basketball and multipurpose arena that opened on October 10, 2010, on the Ohio River waterfront in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, on Main Street between Second and Third Streets. The project is part of a $450 million project that includes...
for the 2010–11 season. Broadbent Arena
Broadbent Arena
Broadbent Arena is a 6,600 seat multi-purpose arena in Louisville, Kentucky. It was home to the Louisville Icehawks and Louisville Riverfrogs ice hockey teams. The arena, along with Cardinal Stadium and Freedom Hall, is located on the Kentucky State Fairgrounds in Louisville. The arena is used...
is also located within the complex and as has maximum capacity of 6,600.
The site, which shares its 19,000 parking spots with the adjacent Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom
Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom
Kentucky Kingdom is an amusement park located in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. The park is located on of land which includes a collection of 27 amusement rides and a water park named Splashwater Kingdom...
, falls far short of the capacity of the various KEC facilities. The site has 1,000 permanent horse stalls, 720 temporary stalls and capacity for livestock as well. The limited parking capacity and the one way "ring road" are two commonly cited criticisms of the facilities.
Kentucky State Fair
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 of indoor and outdoor exhibits, eat a smorgasbord of food and ride hair-raising, adrenaline-pumping coasters during the 11-day event...
, the North American International Livestock Exposition
North American International Livestock Exposition
North American International Livestock Exposition is a livestock show held each November in Louisville, Kentucky and lasts for two weeks. It is billed as the "world's largest all-breed, purebred livestock exposition", with nine major livestock divisions with competitors from the 48 contiguous states...
and the National Farm Machinery Show
National Farm Machinery Show
The National Farm Machinery Show is recognized as one of the largest indoor farm machinery expositions in the United States. The show is typically held annually in February at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky...
. It is located adjacent to I-65
Interstate 65
Interstate 65 is a major Interstate Highway in the United States. The southern terminus is located at an intersection with Interstate 10 in Mobile, Alabama, and its northern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 90 , U.S. Route 12, and U.S...
and the Henry Watterson Expressway
Interstate 264 (Kentucky)
The Henry Watterson Expressway, also known as the Georgia Davis Powers/Shawnee Expressway west of US 31W, is one of two Interstate Highways in the United States designated as Interstate 264 . It is 22.93 miles in length, and runs an open circle around central Louisville, Kentucky...
, as well as the Louisville International Airport
Louisville International Airport
Louisville International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport centrally located in the city of Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky, USA. The airport covers 1,200 acres and has three runways. Its IATA airport code SDF is based on the airport's former name, Standiford Field...
.
Past sporting events held at KEC include six NCAA Final Fours
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
, the minor league world series, and the Bluegrass Bowl
Bluegrass Bowl
Bluegrass Bowl was played only once, on 13 December 1958 in Louisville, Kentucky. Oklahoma State University defeated Florida State University 15-6.-Background of the Bluegrass Bowl:...
, a failed attempt to start an annual college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
.
In 2004, Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
was selected as one of five cities in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to host the Dew Tour, a new 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.
