Safety City at 25: Big News for Knoxville’s Little City

The first time I encountered Safety City I thought I was hallucinating.

I was jogging Third Creek Greenway sometime in the early 2000s and thought I saw something through the trees, so I went to investigate. Lo and behold, it was a small replica of Knoxville itself, complete with a miniature Sunsphere. It was still new then, having opened Sept. 14, 2001 as a place where elementary school students could learn pedestrian, bicycle, vehicle and fire safety. I guess I missed the memo. 

Two decades later, it’s been fun to return with a kiddo in tow. He’ll go on his second-grade field trip there in the spring, as will about 5,000 other second graders over the course of the school year. His favorite feature is the car wash, which is complete with a mister. His only critique is that you can’t actually go inside the buildings. Admittedly, that WOULD be cool. 

Safety City celebrated its 25th birthday last Friday with a ceremony, open ride and some exciting news about its future. Mayor Indya Kincannon got a cheer when she announced a public renovation campaign intended to invigorate the little city for its next generation.

“This Safety City is beautiful and it’s heavily used, but it could use a little freshening up,” she said, pointing to cracked roadways, faded paint and a miniature Sunsphere that hasn’t changed in 25 years, even as its full-sized counterpart at World’s Fair Park has undergone a major renovation.

Plans include repaving the roads, adding a greenway or bike trail, increasing safety education materials and bringing some newer Knoxville landmarks and businesses into the mix.

Covenant Health and the Knoxville Smokies have already committed to creating a replica of Covenant Health Park (there is already a mini Neyland Stadium). K-Brew and Visit Knoxville have also signed on, and the City is looking for additional businesses and organizations interested in participating. A partner interest form can be completed here.

Kincannon also wants Safety City to reflect the strategies of Vision Zero, an initiative aimed at eliminated all traffic fatalities and severe injuries on city-controlled roads by 2040.  “This Safety City is an educational place, but it’s also supposed to inspire and reflect the city we live in today,” she said.

The mayor also announced something Knoxville parents have been requesting for years: more public hours. Additional public access will begin this fall with a $3 admission fee and discounted passes available, while free days will continue throughout the year. The first free extended-hours session will be this Saturday, Sept. 19, from 9 a.m. to noon.

Inside the Visitor’s Center, there were several binders laid out full of photos from the last 25 years and even before that, when it was under construction. There was also a 36-page history of Safety City, which is quite a story in and of itself. 

Safety City opened in 2001 but the idea had been percolating for nearly a decade before that. The roots go back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the Knoxville Police Department under then-Chief Phil Keith (who authored the history I mentioned above) was increasingly focused on preventing crashes rather than simply responding to them. Traffic enforcement, education, crash analysis, training and community partnerships began working together as pieces of the same public-safety strategy. Children, Keith believed, needed to be part of that equation too.

Focused planning for what would become Safety City began around 1992 under the administration of then-Mayor Victor Ashe. Keith and Judie Martin were among the early champions, while former Metropolitan Planning Commission Executive Director Don Parnell conducted feasibility work.

The team tried to research similar programs around the country but found that, with the exception of one in St. Cloud, Minnesota, they didn’t really exist. “Everywhere else we visited, their cities were made out of cut-out card,” he recalled during the ceremony. “We thought Knoxville deserved better than cut-out cardboard.”

Meanwhile, our version gradually became more ambitious and involved. Knoxville Fire Chief Bruce Cureton was brought in to create a fire-safety component. Knox County Schools and University of Tennessee educators became involved in developing a curriculum that would pair classroom instruction with hands-on experience.

Vicki Dagnan joined the effort in 1995 and would go on to spend more than two decades helping develop, fundraise for and operate Safety City. Historical project records document more than $4 million in financial support, donated materials, professional services, construction assistance and other resources that ultimately went into making the idea real.

First, though, they needed somewhere to put it. The 20-acre site chosen at 165 Concord Street, across from Tyson Park between Third Creek and the train tracks, was hardly turnkey. Portions had been used as a dumping area for construction and roadway debris. After ground was broken in September 1996, large amounts of concrete and unsuitable material had to be hauled out and usable fill brought in.

Walker Trucking played a major role in that work, with retired KPD Capt. Ben Sartin helping make the connection. The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve contributed equipment and labor. According to project records, portions of the future development area were ultimately raised about 40 feet above the Third Creek corridor. In other words: Before Knoxville could build a miniature city, it had to build the ground underneath it.

Then came the actual city-building. MK Ferguson, Chuck Griffin and Scott Busby of BarberMcMurry, and Phil Newby of Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon contributed planning, architectural and engineering expertise. Oak Ridge National Laboratory also provided technical and financial support.

The resulting community was built at approximately one-quarter scale, with neighborhoods, streets, sidewalks, intersections and working traffic and railroad signals. These teaching tools were designed to let children move through a recognizable environment and safely practice situations they would encounter in the real world.

Local businesses and civic leaders piled on, too. Norfolk Southern helped develop the railroad-crossing component. Shoney’s executive Bill Baugh was among the early corporate supporters, along with numerous other companies, organizations and individuals. Many sponsors became part of Safety City itself, represented by miniature businesses and landmarks. 

Nearly a decade after the original idea surfaced, Safety City began structured instruction in 2001 and eventually expanded beyond its original school-day mission. Public riding hours began in 2008, giving families a place to walk, ride bicycles and let children tool around in approved kid-sized vehicles. Safety fairs, Halloween celebrations, Christmas events and other community programming followed. This 2026 Christmas at Safety City will take place Dec. 1-3, 8-10 and 15-17 from 4 to 8 p.m. and it is extremely adorable, with the tiny city all done up in lights.  

Here’s to the next 25 years! Safety City: Website | Facebook

A few more photos. What landmarks do you recognize?