Centennial Olympic Stadium
Grass | |
| Construction | |
|---|---|
| Broke ground | July 10, 1993 |
| Opened | May 18, 1996 |
| Renovated | 1996–97 (reconstructed as Turner Field) 2017 (reconstructed as Center Parc Stadium) |
| Closed | August 27, 1996 |
| Construction cost | $209 million[1] ($406 million dollars in 2023) |
| Architect | Atlanta Stadium Design Team (a joint venture of Heery International, Inc., Rosser International, Inc., Williams-Russell and Johnson, Inc. and Ellerbe Becket, Inc.)[2] |
| Tenants | |
| 1996 Summer Olympics 1996 Summer Paralympics | |
Centennial Olympic Stadium was the 85,000-seat main stadium of the 1996 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Construction of the stadium began in 1993, and it was complete and ready for the opening ceremony in July 1996, where it hosted track and field events and the closing ceremony.[3][4] After the Olympics and Paralympics, it was reconstructed into the baseball-specific Turner Field, used by the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball for 20 seasons (1997–2016). After the Braves departed for Truist Park, the facility was purchased by Georgia State University, which rebuilt the stadium a second time as Center Parc Stadium, designed for American football.
History
During the week-long athletics program, the stadium bore witness to
After the closing ceremony of the 1996 Paralympics, the stadium was officially leased by the Atlanta Braves. Private entities, including NBC and other Olympic sponsors, agreed to pay a large sum of the cost to build Centennial Olympic Stadium (approximately $170 million of the $209 million bill). The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) sought to build the stadium in a way that it could be converted to a new baseball stadium, and ACOG paid for the conversion.[5] This was considered a good agreement for both the Olympic Committee and the Braves, because there would be no use for a permanent 85,000 seat track and field stadium in Downtown Atlanta since the 71,000 seat Georgia Dome had been completed four years earlier by the state of Georgia and became the home of the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons. The Braves had already been exploring opportunities for a new venue to replace Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium.
The southwest corner of the Olympic Stadium was built to accommodate the future baseball
The Atlanta Track Club's annual Father's Day four-mile (6.4 km) road race ends inside the stadium near the warning track where the finish line was located for the Olympics.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (July 30, 1996). "At Close of Games, Braves Will Move Into Olympic Stadium". The New York Times. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
- ^ Turner Field Archived June 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine architect: Ellerbe Becket official site
- ^ 1996 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 1. p. 542.
- ^ 1996 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 3. p. 449.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (July 30, 1996). "At Close of Games, Braves Will Move Into Olympic Stadium". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
- ^ Kendrick, Scott. "Turner Field". About.com. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
External links
- Interactive diagram at Clem's Baseball site showing both Olympic and Braves configurations
- Aerial View of Olympic Stadium
- Reconstruction into Baseball Stadium
- 1996 Summer Games
