Centennial Olympic Park is the centerpiece of Downtown Atlanta, where tourists and locals alike can unwind in the grass, take a stroll through the various Olympic monuments and look at breathtaking views of Downtown’s skyline. As a kid growing up in Atlanta, I always loved the design and location of this park, nestled in the center of a bustling city. I remember always having a blast running through those Olympic rings. But before this urban centerpiece was even a park, there is an interesting history of what was there before.
1911-1990: Atlanta’s Industrial District
Much of Atlanta’s history revolves around the railroad lines that intertwine the city. Located directly southwest of the park’s southern point, the Gulch was the railroad hub for the Southeast. Connecting passengers through the Terminal station and freight through the Gulch, it was an economic driver for the entire downtown area.
As shown in the Sanborn map, the railroad lines that still exist today are beside Marietta Street, next to the entrance of the current park. From the map, there are various industrial and rail industries including freight depots, auto shows, and factories. In the top left-hand corner, a Coca-Cola bottling plant is also present. Many of these industries employed blue-collar workers, many of whom were African American. For much of the early years of this area around Marietta Street, it was all rail industries. Because of this, the area was largely run down and filthy from many of the rail lines and factories.
In this map taken in the 1930’s, it was the same type of businesses similar to the ones in the 1910’s all the way to the eventual park’s construction in 1993. The area consisted of parking garages/lots, bottling plants, auto-repair shops and some residential units for those who worked in the buildings. It was mostly a “slum” with many homeless and poorer residents surrounding the area. The area started to develop around 1966 when Tom Cousins bought a bunch of empty parking lots right by the Gulch railroad yards to build the Omni Coliseum, which hosted the NBA franchise Atlanta Hawks. Ted Turner built the CNN Center in 1976, bringing visitors as well as sports fans to the area. With several small businesses spread out across streets such as Techwood Drive, Baker Street, and Harris Street, it was hard for developers to get their hands on any land adjacent to these sports venues. By the time Atlanta had announced it was running for the U.S delegation of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, this Downtown area was depleted and was desperate for a revitalization.
1990-1996: The announcement of the Centennial Games and the downtown Olympic Ring
On September 18th, 1990, the International Olympic Committee announced that Atlanta, Georgia would host the Summer Olympic Games on the 100th Centennial Anniversary of the Olympics. After years of work led by Billy Payne, the president of the Atlanta Olympic Committee and mayor Andrew Young, the city would embark on a six-year journey of planning, assembling, and managing the biggest event Atlanta had ever seen in its history.
To stage the Olympic games, the ACOG (Atlanta Committee of the Olympic Games) decided that most of the venues would be located Downtown in the city center, since it already had the infrastructure built, such as the Georgia Dome and the Omni Coliseum, both home to Atlanta’s sports franchises and the universities, mainly Georgia Tech (which housed the Olympic Village). It was also connected to mass transit (MARTA) and the Downtown Connector1. However, there were major challenges to overcome because of the area’s history. A steady depopulation and migration towards the suburbs, the destruction of many historic buildings through urban renewal projects, and high levels of poverty were problems. It was especially a problem in the main Olympic core area where Centennial Olympic Park currently stands. With the stadiums and CNN Center built along Marietta Street, it only made sense for the organizers to have a central meeting location where visitors of the Games could go and where the International Olympic Commitee’s main corporate sponsors, such as Coca-Cola, could advertise to the eight million plus visitors expected in the city.
In 1993, Downtown leaders and the AOC president, Billy Payne, agreed that a mixed-use green space park would be the best option for a central location for the Games. Because the area next to CNN Center is where the international media was located, they decided that the park would be placed across the street. In the early 1990’s, this area of Downtown was still an industrial complex full of warehouses, factories, and small businesses. City leaders wanted a new space that could remove the run-down and poor-looking area that was home to many small African American businesses, such as Thelma’s soul food kitchen and C.H Martin’s prosthetics company. The ACOG announced that the Park would be built along Marietta Street, Techwood Drive (now Centennial Olympic Park Drive), and Ivan Allen Jr. Drive, connecting the twenty-one acre park to the stadiums, convention center, and Downtown hotels. It would cost $70 million to buy the land and $30 million to build the park. ACOG put the Georgia World Congress Center in charge of developing the park, in part because it was run by the State of Georgia who has eminent domain power. Essentially, many of the small business and factory owners had no choice but to be displaced by the State of Georgia. The more than seventy-land owners had two choices: Either sell the land to the State or the GWCC would displace the owners and give under-market property values. It destroyed a poor community that was set to benefit from the Games. The park was financed mostly through privately funded donations, most notably the president of Coca-Cola Robert Woodruff’s foundation that contributed millions of dollars and the commemorative Brick program that covered $15 million of the project.
Plans were underway to develop the park, and EDAW Inc. was awarded the design of the park. After three years of construction, community negotiations, and meetings with corporate organizers, the park was officially ready in July of 1996 for the Games. The park hosted several concerts, temporary advertising tents for Olympic partners Coca-Cola and GM, and various food and drink stations. One particular event that was fascinating was the Southern Crossroads. Because this event brought visitors from all over the globe, park organizers felt that it wanted to showcase Southern culture. Bands and musicians from all over the South came to Centennial Olympic Park during the Games to play for international crowds including jazz, country, and southern folk. It hosted well over five-million visitors during the three-week span and resulted in Atlanta’s lasting Olympic legacy (except for the bombing, of course). Soon after the games, however, city leaders were tasked with the next phase of the park.
1996-present: After the Games and the Park’s continuing Legacy
After 1996, many Downtown leaders questioned the impact of the park’s legacy. Would the Georgia World Congress Authority do what it promised to do and bring millions of dollars of revenue and attractions to the area? The area around the park was still bleak and undeveloped. In 1998, The Coca-Cola Company purchased land from the park on the northern half to develop the new World of Coke tourist museum and Bernie Marcus (co-founder of The Home Depot) developed the Georgia Aquarium adjacent to the museum. City leaders used the Tax-allocated district program (TAD for short) to entice mixed-use development and residential construction around the park. This helped to build attractions such as the Georgia Aquarium, which was partially funded through the city’s tax program. With the city’s special allocated tax district, it allowed for many incentivized developers to construct around the park.
Today, in the nearly thirty years since the park’s construction, the area of Downtown Atlanta has transformed. Many new developments including the College Football Hall of Fame, SkyView Atlanta, and the Wyndham Resort have all developed in the last ten years. The park is now adjacent to Mercedes-Benz Stadium (2017) and the renovated and re-named State Farm Arena (2019), bringing in thousands of football fans and concert goers. The park’s unique urban location has resulted in more than $2.4 billion dollars’ worth of investment around the park. It has become a focal point for the city, where tourists and local residents alike can spend time outdoors and reminisce of Atlanta’s Olympic past-time.
Centennial Olympic Park is a reminder of Atlanta’s past. It has brought so much needed development to the city’s core that has boosted the economy for decades. However, the problem of displacement of poor-run down communities in order to drive gentrification and commercialization of areas is core to this park and the city’s history altogether. In 2026, the park will surely host events for the FIFA World Cup games held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, bringing in more revenue dollars for the city and driving development around the area once again. From a once abandoned railyard more than thirty-years ago to a driving tourist destination with three million yearly visitors, the park has made its’ lasting mark on the Centennial Games and Atlanta’s legacy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Spears, Eric, and Jordan Brasher. 2022. “Centennial Olympic Park: A Multidimensional Space.” Southeastern Geographer 62 (3): 1–4. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=a9h&AN=159133667&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Dobbins, Michael, Eplan, Leon, and Roark, Randal. 2021. “Atlanta’s Olympic Resurgence: How the 1996 Games Revived a Struggling City.” Arcadia Publishing
Holt, George. “Southern Culture at the Crossroads: Presenting the South at the Centennial Olympic Games.” Southern Cultures 3, no. 3 (October 1, 1997): 68–82. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.26235504&site=eds-live&scope=site.
FOX, CATHERINE, Catherine Fox STAFF WRITER. “Atlanta’s Olympic DreamCentennial Olympic Park is supposed to showcase the city to the world andthen revitalize Downtown. But will the dream be fulfilled?PARK DESIGNCornerstone of lively new neighborhood.” The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, December 12, 1993: F/1. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EADA0A7E1635D38.
GREER, RICHARD AND HISKEY MICHELLE, Richard Greer and Michelle Hiskey STAFF WRITERS. “Land of opportunityCan Downtown be a vital residential area? Hopes are being raised byCentennial Park.” The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, December 5, 1993: E/1. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EADA0A46DE51E8A.
ROUGHTON, BERT JR, Bert Roughton Jr. STAFF WRITER. “OLYMPIC FACELIFT: A MASTER PLAN FOR DOWNTOWNPAYNE PROPOSES `OLYMPIC LEGACY’New park, new Downtown?It’s a Cinderella tale: Shabby area may get a magic makeover.” The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, November 19, 1993: A/1. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EADA09E7596CC0C.
Shifrin, Jean. “Hayden Street NW looking N. Near Intersection with Baker St. Novemeber 20, 1993”. AJCP162-048i, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.
Hannans, Renee. “Brothers George and Walter Counts Owners of C.H. Martin Co. December 11, 1993”. AJCP162-048l, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library
“Stop 12 | Centennial Olympic Park.” n.d. Atlanta History Center. Accessed April 26, 2024. https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/programs-events/public-programs/olympic-paralympic-games-celebration/sites-and-venues-of-96/centennial-olympic-park/.
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“Image 19 of Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.” n.d. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Accessed April 26, 2024. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3924am.g3924am_g01378191101/?sp=19&st=image&r=-0.882.
“Image 38 of Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.” n.d. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Accessed April 26, 2024. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3924am.g3924am_g01378191101/?sp=38&st=image&r=-0.871.
