Emporium Center — Attraction in Knoxville

I've come to several private events, and was a member of a community art program that was housed at the Emporium. I always have a grand time because it's my mission to LIVE LIFE LIKE IM A PIECE OF ARTWORK.

However, I'm ALWAYS inconvenienced when I come here. As someone who has progressively lost mobility, it's like going on a SPY MISSION just to enter the lower level of this establishment. A disabled person is never able to independently transfer from the upper or lower levels without an employee. Then there's the wait to find it and get an employee.

There's no proper signage giving disabled patrons instructions. The office is inaccessible so you have to yell to get assistance if you are by yourself. In order to get to the bottom level you must go back outside, traverse around to the far right back side of the building to re-enter. But you must have a code to enter, then you must calm your Spidey Senses as you wind through hallways that lead you to an elevator. Once you get to the bottom floor, then you need a key to get into the Emporium lower level.

You never want to go "back up to Earth's surface" without an employee. TRUST ME, I've gotten trapped & unable to re-enter after I left my phone 😕 Which also means you have to get some else to go to the 2nd floor to request an employee to escort you out.

Then there's the bathroom situation. It's great for disabled people. However; inconsiderate, lazy and inebriated guests use the only accessible bathroom verse climbing up to the 3rd...

We held our wedding and reception at The Emporium on 6/22/19, and it could not have been more perfect! I was worried the venue was going to be too small (we had around 100 guests) but we had TONS of space. We were able to have our bar, dinner buffet, 8 dinner tables, a DJ booth and 120 chairs for the ceremony all set up simultaneously. Suzanne was so helpful throughout the planning process and very quick to respond to my emails. She allowed us to change our ceremony date AFTER we signed our contract with no problem. The week of, I panicked that I didn't rent the venue for long so enough, so she let me add 2 additional hours. To top it off, our wedding coordinator was able to get the venue cleaned up and turned back over before the time on our contract, so Suzanne gave us back part of our rental fee ( very nice surprise!) I...

The set up went very smooth. I was able to park up front and Suzanne helped me with navigating the display case. There were pedestals available to use. The lighting in the case was perfect for displaying my work. My only issue was the heat from the window. It was difficult for viewers to stand on that side of the case and look at the artwork because of the heat. May some type of fan can be installed overhead towards the side to offset the heat situation during summer months. The other thing was the ramp to the elevator needs to be highlighted better so that visitors don't trip on it. When you are looking at the exhibit you are not necessarily looking down. All in all it was a great experience for me and I would love to exhibit there again. Suzanne is a wonderful person to work with and makes it easy to setup...