Parking and Transportation

Neighborhood Coordinator

Debbie Sharp
[email protected]
(865) 215-3232

400 Main St., Room 546
Knoxville, TN 37902

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Directions
See directions to the Knoxville Convention Center.

Passenger Drop-off
Need to drop off passengers before you find a place to park? You can do so safely at these two locations:
*** The Ballroom Drop-off Circle is located on the southwest corner of the Convention Center and is the closest spot to the Conference once you enter the building. 
*** Clinch Avenue Entrance with a pull-in for vehicles. This entrance is not as close to conference registration as the Ballroom Drop-off entrance.

See a floor plan of the Convention Center. Scroll down to Page 3, which shows all of the rooms where the Neighborhood Conference will be held --- the A-G ballrooms, the 300 rooms, the 301 rooms, and the Cumberland and Henley concourses.

Parking Options 
If you are a person with an accessible-parking hang tag or license plate, you may first try to find a parking space on the Ballroom Circle on Cumberland Avenue. If this area is too congested, park at the Supreme Court lot directly across Henley Street from the Convention Center. There is one entrance on Henley Street and one on Locust Street. A covered golf cart will be available to take you from the parking to the entrance of the Convention Center.

Other persons who have difficulty walking are also encouraged to use this lot and take advantage of the golf cart ride.

Parking for Able-Bodied Persons
For able-bodied persons, free parking will be available at: 
*** UT’s 11th Street Garage across World’s Fair Park from the Convention Center;
*** Locust Street garage across from the YMCA; and

There are plenty of other public parking locations downtown. See this map. For a map, fees and operation hours for each of the downtown garages, see this page.

Unlike years past, the Poplar Street lot is not available to conference attendees this year. It is reserved for the boat show which is occurring the same weekend in the bottom of the Convention Center.

Also, please do not use the parking lot of Church Street United Methodist Church. They need the lot for a funeral service late Saturday morning.

Ride KAT Free to The Neighborhood Conference
If you can get to a city bus stop, you can ride to the conference for no charge. KAT buses will run a regular Saturday schedule on March 11. Just tell the driver you are going to the Neighborhood Conference at the Knoxville Convention Center, 701 Henley St., and you will ride for free.

Once you are at the Convention Center, stop by the KAT booth to get your free bus pass for the ride home. Be sure to stop by their booth before 12:15 p.m. when booths close.

Five bus routes go by the Convention Center --- No. 11 Kingston Pike, No. 17 Sutherland, No. 41 Chapman Highway, No. 42 UT/Fort Sanders Hospitals, and No. 45 Vestal.

If you ride a different bus, you can ride first to Knoxville Station. From there you can walk to the Convention Center, a distance of just over one half of a mile. Walk west on Church Avenue, turn left on Henley, right on Cumberland, and enter the building at that corner.

Or you can transfer to one of the buses above to get to the Convention Center. But be sure to check arrival and departure times! To help you plan your route, see the KAT website --- http://www.katbus.com/--- for routes and schedules. You can also use the handy Trip Planner on the KAT website: http://www.katbus.com/173/Trip-Planner.

Or you can call a KAT Transit Agent at 637-3000. Give the agent your starting point, your destination, and when you wish to arrive. They will tell you which route, or routes, you will need to take, where you can wait to catch that route, and any other information you need, such as whether you'll need to transfer to another bus to get to your final destination.

The Blue Line Trolley runs just one block from the Convention Center, but on Saturdays it does not start rolling until 9 a.m. The conference gets underway at 7:30 a.m. with a continental breakfast, and the opening plenary is at 8:30, with the first array of workshops beginning at 9:30.