The Sunsphere is a tall steel truss structure located in World's Fair Park in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It is topped with the gold-colored glass sphere that served as the symbol of the 1982 World's Fair. Directly across a man-made pond from the Tennessee Amphitheater, they are the only remaining structures from the fair.
The Sunsphere has been used as a symbol for Knoxville, appearing in postcards and . Between 1993 and 1999, the Sunsphere was featured in part on the logo for the Knoxville Smokies minor league baseball club. The 2002 AAU Junior Olympics mascot Spherit took its inspiration from the landmark. It featured red hair and a body shaped like the Sunsphere. On Sunday, May 14, 2000, nuclear weapons protesters scaled the tower and hung a large banner saying "Stop the Bombs". They remained on the tower for three days before surrendering to police.
In March 1994 the World's Fair Park Development Committee sought to reopen the Sunsphere as a restaurant (similar to Seattle's Space Needle, which features a restaurant at the top): CEB Enterprises would have opened a casual dining restaurant called World's Fare Restaurant; Cierra Restaurant Group would have opened a fine dining restaurant. Both proposals failed.
The Sunsphere was proposed to be included as part of the new Knoxville Convention Center. While not physically incorporated into the final design, the Convention Center was designed with an open curve along its north edge to allow access to the Sunsphere. During construction of the Convention Center, the observation deckwhich the city had briefly reopened, still sporting the original World's Fair-era displays and explanations of the panoramawas closed while the tower was commandeered by the Knoxville Public Building Authority as offices for, quite literally, overseeing construction of the Convention Center.
On August 27, 2008, the 5th floor was opened as the SkyBox bar and lounge. It eventually closed, however, and real estate investor Tony Capiello opened Icon Ultra Lounge in its place, investing $450,000.
In June 2013, a patron accidentally broke an inside window; nobody was hurt. On November 13, 2013, it was announced that Visit Knoxville would update and renovate the 4th floor of the observation deck.
The Sunsphere observation deck was closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Visit Knoxville reopened the Sunsphere observation deck on February 22, 2022. The floor offers a 360-degree view stretching from downtown to the Great Smoky Mountains, including World's Fair Park, the Tennessee River, and the University of Tennessee Campus. Visitors can also view a 1982 World's Fair timeline, gallery, memorabilia, and gift shop.
The Sunsphere has also been called "The Lord's Golf Tee".
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