| Kentucky Exposition Center | |
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 The main entrance and South Wing of the Kentucky Exposition Center | |
 Interactive map of {{#if empty|Kentucky Exposition Center|Kentucky Exposition Center}} | |
| Coordinates | 38°12′0″N85°44′31″W / 38.20000°N 85.74194°W /38.20000; -85.74194 |
| Owner | Kentucky State Fair Board |
| Operator | Kentucky State Fair Board |
| Opened | 1956 |
| Enclosed space | |
| • Total space | 1,300,000 |
| Parking | 19000 spaces |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheKentucky Exposition Center (KEC), is a large multi-use facility inLouisville, 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 andFreedom 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-sitebaseball/football field with a capacity of up to 37,925, was home to theUniversity of Louisvillefootball andLouisville Redbirdsminor 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'sbasketball teams until they moveddowntown to the newKFC 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 theKentucky State Fair, theNorth American International Livestock Exposition, theVEX Robotics World Championships and theNational Farm Machinery Show. It is located adjacent toI-65 and theHenry Watterson Expressway, as well as theLouisville International Airport.
Past sporting events held at KEC include sixNCAA final Fours, the minor league world series, and theBluegrass Bowl, a failed attempt to start an annualcollege footballbowl game. The venue was also home to theFairgrounds Motor Speedway which hosted theARCA Racing Series andASA 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 theUnited States to host theDew 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 fromKentucky Fair and Exposition Center to simplyKentucky 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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