KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — A former sports facility in Hardin Valley has found new life as a community hub, offering farmers markets, concerts, fundraisers and more.

Co-owners Dale Aikins and Dave Carter transformed the 21,000 square foot pavilion into the Hardin Valley Event Center to meet a need they said the community lacked.

"Hardin Valley is not an incorporated government, so the problem with it is that they don't have the resources to put together a full-fledged community center," Aikins said. "We’re familiar with the area and so we decided to repurpose this building to make it something for the community."

The space opened with a Thursday evening farmers market that drew far more interest than expected.

“We grossly underestimated the pent-up demand,” Aikins said. “We had over 1,000 we

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