The City of Knoxville held the grand reopening for the new location of the Knoxville Arts and Fine Crafts Center, at 1127 Broadway Ave., at 11:00 a.m. today.

The 32-year-old craft center offers a wide range of classes to all ages-from fine crafts, like pottery and oil painting, to aerobic and performing arts, such as ballet and yogalates. This Knoxville Parks and Recreation Division program was recently relocated after the City sold its original location, the historic Candy Factory. "While selling the Candy Factory was the right financial decision for the City, we wanted to find a new home for the crafts center," said Mayor Bill Haslam. "These programs promote healthy living for all ages and bring a lot of joy into the lives for our citizens in so many ways and we didn't want to give them up." 

After nearly a year of maintaining a temporary program of the craft center in Cal Johnson Recreation Center, the Knoxville Arts and Fine Crafts Center has landed a new 4,000 square-foot home in Wright's Place Shopping Center, at 1127 Broadway Ave. The shopping center's owner, Jim Wright, who is also owner of Vineyard Flooring, is leasing the craft center space to the City of Knoxville. As part of the leasing agreement, Vineyard Flooring covered the cost of replacing the wood and tile flooring in the craft center. The Knoxville Public Service Division took care of all other renovations for the new facility, including all electrical, plumbing, and cosmetic work.

"By using the City Public Service Division in-house to secure the major renovations for the new craft center, we now have a high-quality facility that is customized to our needs, at a minimal cost," noted Sam Anderson, Knoxville Community and Neighborhood Services Senior Director. "This kind of teamwork between City divisions allows us to serve Knoxville citizens in a very effective and efficient manner." The new facility features a dance studio, a fine crafts room, and a pottery room, complete with throwing machines and four large firing kilns. "Being centrally located with easy access and plenty of parking were all major concerns to us as we searched for a new location for the craft center," said Joe Walsh, Deputy Director of the Knoxville Parks and Recreation Division. "We feel like our new location meets all of these criteria."

For more information on the Knoxville Arts and Fine Crafts Center, including directions and class schedules, please call 865-523-1401.