Today, the park remains. It serves not only as a tourist destination for people visiting downtown Atlanta; it also routinely hosts concerts, holiday shows and other events. Photo by Kevin C. During the Olympics, the venue hosted basketball, gymnastics and handball. The Georgia Dome was torn down in following the construction of Mercedes-Benz Stadium next door.
This venue, built on the Georgia Tech campus, was constructed to host swimming and diving during the Olympics. Today, the facility still stands on the Georgia Tech campus and regularly hosts swimming events. The Omni was built in and housed Atlanta Hawks basketball, concerts and other events.
During the Olympics, volleyball was played in the Omni. The facility lasted one more year after the Olympics before it was torn down. In the process Atlanta changed dramatically as new sports venues were built, park space was created, sidewalks and streets were improved, and housing patterns were altered. During the seventeen days of the Olympics, more than 2 million visitors came to Atlanta, and an estimated 3.
The Olympics created a significant legacy for Atlanta and its leaders. In an Atlanta attorney and former football player at the University of Georgia , Billy Payne, conceived the idea of hosting the Summer Olympic Games.
Atlanta mayor Andrew Young was among the first to join Payne in the quest to develop a bid and sell the proposal, first to local business leaders, then to the U. After the selection of Atlanta in September , rumors circulated that the city had used excessive gifts, or in some instances, bribes, to influence IOC voting, but no evidence came to light until documents were released as part of a congressional investigation into Olympic bidding in the wake of a scandal in Salt Lake City, Utah.
This pattern of attempting to influence IOC members appears to have been the norm among all the competing cities at the time. Preparations for the games were intense. Private investment also came in the form of hotel construction as approximately 7, rooms were built between and the opening of the games. This brought the number of hotel rooms in the Atlanta area to more than 60, National chains opened themed restaurants along Peachtree Street in hopes of profiting from the crowds of Olympic visitors.
The federal government spent millions of dollars on replacing sidewalks, posting pedestrian signs, planting trees, installing new lighting, and displaying public art. As soon as the streets in the downtown area were fixed up for Olympic visitors, a representative of the city government leased space to temporary vendors in tents, stalls, and carts, creating a carnival atmosphere that became the subject of much controversy.
The opening ceremony on July 19 attracted a capacity crowd of 83, to the Olympic Stadium for a display honoring southern culture and the th anniversary of the modern Olympic movement.
The artistic success of the opening ceremonies gave way to problems when the athletic competitions began the next day. Members of the international press corps experienced transportation problems getting to venues near downtown from their housing in scattered locations throughout the metropolitan area. Many journalists were late or missed events as some buses broke down and a few drivers became lost. There were also delays in reporting the results of athletic events as a state-of-the-art computer system failed to deliver data from the various competition sites.
This caused missed deadlines and added to the frustration of journalists from all over the world. Their reports on the games were critical of local organizers and the city itself.
Those who came to watch the athletes were not disappointed by the 10, competitors representing nations in 26 sports. Other visitors came to Atlanta just to be a part of the huge event, creating a lively crowd enjoying free concerts in Centennial Olympic Park and other activities downtown.
The pleasant mood of the Olympics changed suddenly in the early morning of July 27, when a pipe bomb exploded in Centennial Olympic Park during a concert, causing two deaths and more than injuries.
While the athletic competition continued, security became tighter for subsequent Olympic events. Following the closing ceremony on August 4, there were mixed assessments of the games.
The members of the IOC were pleased with the athletic competition, the all-time high attendance, and the television coverage. On the other hand, they were critical of the commercialism surrounding the Atlanta games and the problems affecting international journalists. Downtown Atlanta received several tangible legacies from the Olympics, like its improved pedestrian environment. By the numbers, the Games boast many noteworthy figures in Olympic history.
Aptly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games, the event was the th anniversary of the first modern Olympic Games in The Games were also important for American Olympic history, as they were the first time since that the US won a non-boycotted summer games. The games were also significant for the heavy reliance on private sponsorships to cover costs, which led to complaints of over-commercialization of the games but also allowed the city of Atlanta to turn a profit afterwards.
The event also had many defining moments, such as boxing legend Muhammed Ali lighting the cauldron to kick off the games, and especially impressive performances in track and field that year.
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