Less than two decades ago, Centennial Olympic Park’s
neighborhood was a run-down part of town. That all began to change on the day
Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games CEO Billy Payne gazed out his office
window and a brilliant inspiration came to him – to convert a multi-block
eyesore into a glorious gathering spot for visitors and residents to enjoy
during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games and for years to come.
Atlanta responded to that vision with tremendous support.
The estimated $75 million in development costs came entirely from
private-sector donations – contributions in the form of commemorative bricks,
funds raised by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and local philanthropic
foundation grants.
This community support, coupled with the willingness of the
State of Georgia to take the lead in the Park’s development and to assume
ownership after the Games, transformed a dream into a grand reality –
Centennial Olympic Park.
Following the Olympic Games, a large portion of the park was
closed and redesigned for daily public use. A gala commemoration weekend in
March 1998 introduced the newly landscaped Park and its expanded amenities.
Today, this unique 21-acre park performs a dual mission: it
serves as Georgia’s lasting legacy of the Centennial Olympic Games and it
anchors efforts to revitalize residential and commercial development in
Georgia’s capital city of Atlanta.
The Georgia World Congress Center Authority has operational
responsibility for Centennial Olympic Park, as well as the Georgia Dome and
Georgia World Congress Center.
The Park sponsors community-wide free events, including the
Fourth of July Celebration, Music@Noon, the Wednesday WindDown concert series,
and Park Market. The Park also hosts festivals, fundraisers and private events.
These events, in addition to the normal day-to-day traffic, bring an estimated
three million visitors to this urban oasis each year.