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OLYMPIC MEMORIES
How the 1996 Summer Games transformed Intown
By Collin Kelley
INtown Editor
When attorney Billy Payne first floated
the idea of Atlanta hosting the 1996
Summer Olympic Games way back in
1987, many people had the same reaction:
“Dream on, Billy”
Atlanta had everything going against
it: insufficient infrastructure, little
international standing and a lingering “Old
South” mentality despite desegregation.
And, of course, there was the exorbitant
cost.
But Mayor Andrew Young latched onto
Paynes idea. It was the ‘80s, after all, and
business was booming, neighborhoods
were being reclaimed, the Atlanta airport
was growing and even Underground
Atlanta was in the process of getting a new
lease on life as a shopping destination.
Fast forward to Sept. 18,1990.
Atlanta was actually on the shortlist of
potential hosts for the Summer Games, but
the long shot to get the nod. The favorites
were Toronto and Athens (which hosted
the first Olympic Games) along with
Belgrade, Manchester and Melbourne.
Atlantans huddled around TVs and
gathered Downtown as International
Olympic Committee President
Juan Antonio Samaranch made the
announcement from Tokyo: “The
International Olympic Committee has
awarded the 1996 Olympic Games to the
city of... Atlanta.”
The delegation in Tokyo, which
included Payne, Young and a very relieved
Mayor Maynard Jackson, erupted into
cheers, while there were hugs, tears and
dancing at Underground.
By the time INtown was launched
in its first iteration as Atlanta 30306
in November 1994, the city was in the
middle of a massive
transformation not seen
since Reconstruction. The
Olympic Stadium was
under construction next
door to the Atlanta-Fulton
County Stadium, it’s
progress a daily reminder
of the juggernaut of
10,000 athletes and
two millions visitors
descending on the city in
less than two years.
On the west side of
Downtown, a former
wasteland of abandoned
buildings and warehouses,
a new gathering spot
called Centennial
Olympic Park was being
built. It was to be the focal point of all the
entertainment surrounding the Games.
A new natatorium was under
construction at Georgia Tech, along with
the Olympic Village. The High Museum
was planning a historic and mind-blowing
exhibition of great art treasures from
around the world. There was increased
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interest in art in general, with sculpture
and installations part of the Olympic
transformation.
The entire city was getting a facelift to
make its big international debut, and some
of it was controversial, including attempts
to remove the homeless from Downtown
and the unveiling of the totally bizarre
(and almost universally detested) Olympic
mascot, Izzy. To be fair, Izzy started a trend
of wacky mascots (London’s one-eyed
Wenlock, anyone?) that make Atlanta’s
blue bomb look downright cuddly by
comparison. All is forgiven, Izzy.
But when boxing legend Muhammad
Ali lit the torch at the opening ceremonies
on July 19, 1996, there was a collective sigh
of relief. The Games were off to a good
start, with U.S. athletes on the road to
collecting 101 medals.
Then there was the bomb.
On July 27, Eric Robert Rudolph - who
wouldn’t be brought to justice until 2003
after a string of other bombings - placed
a pipe bomb in the park. It killed two and
wounded 111 others. It was a Friday night
and the park was packed with people
enjoying the music and atmosphere of the
Games.
Georgia Tech professor and poet Karen
Head had been in the park the night before,
standing in almost the exact spot where the
bomb went off. “It still gives me a little chill
to think about it,” she says.
Luckily, Head’s lasting memory is
attending the medal round of the dressage
competition (“even the horses got medals!”)
and seeing a visiting Princess Anne in the
stands.
Eve Hoffman, who sat on the Metro
Atlanta Olympic Games Authority,
attended the opening ceremonies and
remembers the “cacophony of languages” as
she walked from Midtown to the Olympic
Stadium. “I felt like a
hostess welcoming the
world,” she said. “I walked
a little taller in the heat
with my daughter at my
side. Later, we went to
Centennial Park to see our
names inscribed on the
paving bricks, including
one for my husband who
had died a year earlier.”
At the end of the
Games, there was a
collective opinion on the
international stage that
the Atlanta Olympics
had been a bit ho-hum.
There was no dazzle or
glitz at the opening and
closing ceremonies to
remember, the bombing had stolen many
of the headlines, and many thought the
Games were too commercialized. Even
Samaranch, who had called each Games
before it the “best ever,” simply said, “Well
done, Atlanta.” That stung a bit.
But Atlanta’s reputation as an
international city, a tourist destination
Q99
III
Atlanta 1996
Above: Centennial Olympic Park was a late idea
by organizer Billy Payne, but was the catalyst
for renovation and regrowth in Downtown
Atlanta. (File)
Right: The Olympic Cauldron sits near Turner
Field, the former Olympic Stadium, on Hank
Aarron Drive. (Photo by Isadora Pennington)
Top of page: Olympic mascot Izzy was the
butt of many jokes, but he’s positvely prosaic
compared to later mascots. (File)
and city keen on business was cemented
nevertheless. The Games pumped $5.14
billion into the city and the transformation
of Downtown would continue with Philips
Arena, the Georgia Aquarium, World
of Coca-Cola, the Center for Civil and
Human Rights, and College Football Hall
of Fame. Centennial Park has become
Downtown’s “living room” for concerts,
holiday celebrations and a gathering spot
for workers and city-dwellers, who have
returned in droves.
The city’s population surged from
3.5 million in 1996 to nearly 5.5 million
today, it is home to more than a dozen
Fortune 500 companies, and Hartsfield-
Jackson International Airport has a shiny
new international terminal and retains its
designation as busiest in the world.
Jeff Morrison, a history buff and project
architect with Collins Cooper Carusi, said
that Atlanta had successfully “absorbed” the
Olympic venues unlike other host cities.
“In some host cities, the venues are
abandoned and deteriorating,” Morrison
said. “To Atlanta’s credit, it has outgrown
the Olympics, repurposed the venues and
moved on.”
Morrison said he believes Atlanta
would have continued to grow even if it
had lost the Olympics, but it would have
probably been a slower process.
Morrison said there are still areas of
Downtown that need more attention.
He specifically mentioned Mitchell
Street between the city, county federal
government complexes and Castleberry
Hill.
“The area is not without occupants, but
it doesn’t add anything to neighborhood,”
he said. “People drive there to work, then
go home. It’s an area not contributing to the
urban neighborhood.”
When Morrison moved to Atlanta
just after the Games, he said there will still
swaths of Downtown up to Midtown that
were empty or under-utilized.
“I had dinner at the SunDial on top
of the Westin Peachtree recently and it is
amazing to see how much has filled in,” he
commented.
Central Atlanta Progress President
A.J. Robinson said the physical element of
Centennial Park was the catalyst for all the
development around it.
“The legacy is the constant reminder
that Atlanta can meet any challenge when
the city puts its mind to it,” Robinson
said. “Today, you might not see that in as
grandiose fashion as the Olympics, but the
spirit remains in the minds of many of us.”
In the summer, when the Rings
Fountain cools off kids of all ages in the
middle of Centennial Park, Billy Payne’s
hairbrained idea 27 years ago continues
to pay in dividends. OS
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