1996 summer olympics venues
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Sites and Venues of ’96
Preparations for the ’96 Olympic Games brought major projects to the city of Atlanta and surrounding areas on a short timeline. The organizers needed to construct new large-scale facilities or identify venues that could be adapted for the various sporting events. Through both means, the ‘96 Games added major venues to the metro area, changing neighborhoods, the city’s downtown, and far-reaching sites in the state. The stories of the Olympic sites shine light on larger urban histories in Atlanta.
This tour travels to the sites of the ’96 Olympic Games, with information about the histories of the projects, venues, and neighborhoods, and compares historic photographs to present-day locations. As you make your way through, think about how the city has changed, what it means for a big urban project to be successful, and who is impacted by such projects. Atlanta History Center hopes you’ll learn some fun trivia along the way. &nbs
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Venues and Impact: Planning the Sites of ’96
During the Olympic Games, hosts invite the world into their cities. But what happens after the world leaves and at what cost to the community?
In 1990, with the prospect of the Olympic Games on the horizon, Atlanta entered a construction phase. As with other host cities across the globe, Atlanta began to plan to accommodate new stadiums, thousands of athletes, and millions of visitors. The sites that were built, razed, altered, or planned in the lead up to the Games had long-term impact on our city’s landscape and its residents, including the most vulnerable.
As the spectacle of the Games has evolved over time, so have host city preparation measures. In the six years between the urval of Atlanta as host and the Opening Ceremony of the Games, there was an unrelenting push to locate or build facilities for specialized events. Organizers faced pressure for their work to gods beyond the two weeks of pomp, circumstance, and sportsmanshi
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Venues of the 1996 Summer Olympics
A total of twenty-nine sports venues were used for the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Several sports venues for the 1996 Olympics were built before the 1960s as college venues. The first professional teams in Atlanta came in 1966, when Major League Baseball's Atlanta Bravesmoved from Milwaukee and the NFL added the Atlanta Falcons as an expansion team. In 1968, the NBA came to the city when the Atlanta Hawks arrived from St. Louis, and the NHL arrived four years later with the expansion Atlanta Flames.
The Braves and Falcons shared Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium from 1966 through 1991, after which the Falcons moved into the Georgia Dome, playing at that stadium from 1992 through 2016. The Braves would remain at the former stadium through the 1996 season. The Hawks initially played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, now McCamish Pavilion, on the campus of Georgia Institute of Technology before the Omni Coliseum was completed in 1972 for both the Hawks and