On July 28, 2008 the Sunsphere was both the site and the subject of a luncheon lecture by one of the architects who worked on creating the theme structure for the 1982 World's Fair. William Denton spoke about the challenges of constructing the world's first spherical building, and what he hoped Knoxville would do with it. Former mayor Randall Tyree spoke following Mr. Denton's remarks.