Tuesday, January 25, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 5
Olympic leftovers visible in Atlanta
Super Bowl visitors to experience city
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — The Olympic stadium is still here, albeit with a new name and much-altered appearance. Looking for the spot where gold-shoed Michael Johnson crossed the finish line with his record in the 200 meters? It now lies somewhere between third base and the left-field fence.
Centenial Olympic Park is actually a park these days, a 21-acre oasis of grass, flags and fountains in the heart of downtown, with nary a Budweiser tent and scent memories of the fatal bombing that rocked the Atlanta Games.
The Georgia Dome, site of Sunday's Super Bowl between Tennessee and St. Louis, hasn't changed a bit, but it must be noted that this season's Falcons hardly provided the drama of Kerri Strug and Dream Team III.
Indeed, as Atlanta prepares for its biggest sporting event since that momentous summer 3 1/2 years ago, Super Bowl visitors can still find some tangible evidence that this was an Olympic city.
On the other hand, don't look for Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Or the Omni. Or the Stone Mountain
Archeery Center and Velodrome. They are gone with the wind — the first two blown up in the name of progress, the latter dismantled for the sake of fiscal responsibility.
For Billy Payne, the look of post-Olympic Atlanta was just as he envisioned. There aren't a bunch of elaborate buildings sitting around empty, draining tax dollars long after the athletes went home.
The centerpiece was the 85,000-seat Olympic Stadium, site of track and field as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. But shortly after the torch was extinguished, construction crews transformed the facility into a 50,000-seat baseball stadium, Turner Field.
"The objective was to have the finest games we could while spending the least amount of money and building the fewest amount of new facilities," said Payne, who led the privately financed Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.
The Braves had to pick up only about 20 percent of the total cost, with ACOG paying the rest. But, in the eight-month rush to convert the stadium from track and field to baseball, no one thought to leave behind a tangible reminder of Olympic glory.
The cauldron, which was ignited by Muhammad Ali and burned throughout the 17-day Games, didn't fit aesthetically and was moved to the far edge of an outer parking
"I think it would be fair to say we all got tired and worn out and didn't plan for proper reflection at the baseball stadium that this was the proud home of the centennial Olympic stadium," Payne conceded. "I think that's something that needs to be done."
lot. While more visible to passing motorists on a nearby interstate, the cauldron sticks out like a lonely, forgotten relic.
To rectify that situation, Braves President Stan Kasten said the team planned an Olympic monument within Turner Field, honoring Johnson, Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and other track stars. He said he hoped it would be completed by next opening day.
But Kasten made no apologies for the overall concept of building a track and field stadium that could be converted into a baseball park.
it's hard to imagine anyone being concerned about an Olympic facility that gets 3 million visitors year after year," he said. "That sounds like a pretty good after-use to me."
Payne's pride and joy is Centennial Olympic Park, a onceblighted area that was transformed into a ground zero gathering spot for the games.
Hundreds of thousands of fans passed through the park. A still-elusive bomber picked the park to make a terrorist statement, leaving behind a deadly package that exploded during a late-night concert.
During the summer of 1996, the park was dominated by huge tents that promoted everything from beer to watches. In essence, it was a memorial to the rampant commercialism that helped fund the games but came to be viewed as a blight on its legacy.
These days, the park is a much more leisurely place, with grassy lawns, water gardens, brick pathways and an Olympic flag still flapping in the winter breeze.
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"Clearly, my favorite is the park." Payne said. "We just wanted to have a gathering place, but people fell in love with it so much that it became an instrumental part of our future."
Since the games, a luxury hotel opened adjacent to the park, soon to be followed by a high-rise condominium building, the first significant downtown housing development in years. Coca-Cola also as planned a new office building nearby.
Two of the city's major Olympic buildings have disappeared.
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, site of baseball and located adjacent to the main stadium, was imploded in summer 1997 and became a parking lot. The Omni, home to volleyball, met the same fate shortly afterward and was replaced by the larger, more elaborate Philips Arena.
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