Atlanta’s Olympic legacy: It’s there, even if not always obvious
OK, so not everything about our Olympics was splendiferous. In 16 years, we still haven't gotten over Izzy. (AJC photo by Joey Ivansco)
Sixteen summers ago, we were London. The eyes of the world — and not just that segment of the population that cares about sports — were on Atlanta. Some critics found us wanting. Juan Antonio Samaranch, the head of the International Olympic Committee, denied the Atlanta Games his customary “best ever” benediction. No matter.
We had the Olympics. Big things happened. Michael Johnson ran really fast. Kerri Strug made her valorous vault. The U.S. men and women won in basketball, and the U.S. women won in soccer. And there was, sad to say, a bomb explosion in Centennial Olympic Park that killed a woman named Alice Hawthorne.
We, meaning all of us Atlantans, have an Olympic legacy. But there are times when you have to look hard to see it. “Usually the icon for the Olympics is the Olympic Stadium,” said Bob Hope, an Atlanta public relations executive. “When you look at ours, you see the Braves’ stadium.”
Our Olympic Stadium, the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field, began to become Turner Field almost as soon as the Olympic flame was doused. Speaking of which: The caldron that housed the flame, memorably lit by Muhammad Ali, now stands in a parking lot a block up Hank Aaron Drive.
“It just sits there,” said Andrew Young, the former Atlanta mayor who was chairman of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, speaking to the AJC’s Jill Vejnoska last year. “I pass right by it and don’t see it.”
Other than Centennial Olympic Park, which has become a focal point of downtown, there aren’t many visible points of reference to those 17 days in 1996. This was not some oversight. This was, on the contrary, by design.
Said A.D. Frazier, who was the chief operating officer for ACOG: “We didn’t build anything that didn’t have an after-use … The organizing committee had to use its own money, and we raised every penny of the $1.7 billion. We couldn’t afford to build monuments that weren’t going to be used for anything.”
Also this: “We were on a budget. We sweated over every nickel.”
And that’s the other part of our Olympic memory: The continuing wonder that those Games graced our burg at all. Before the Olympics, Atlanta was known mostly for Coca-Cola, Ted Turner’s cable network and our airport. Said Frazier: “If you look at the cities that have hosted the Summer Games — Rome, London, Mexico City — those are world-class cities. Having the Olympics puts you in a different class.”
More Frazier: “We’re certainly proud to have hosted the Olympics. It had a powerful impact on the way Atlanta people see themselves. For two weeks we were the center of attention in the whole world … Our Olympic legacy is that it set us up for some really good things to happen in the civic center.”
And maybe that’s it. Maybe we in Atlanta reacted to the Olympics the way we react to most things. “We move on,” Hope said. “That’s the nature of our town. Traditionally we haven’t honored great architecture or great buildings. We don’t have a great sense of heritage.”
Even if little about Turner Field recalls its Olympics usage — the same applies to the Georgia Dome, where gymnastics and basketball were staged on separate sides of a curtain — what would have been the alternative? Said Taz Anderson, an Atlanta entrepreneur: “I don’t know what you do with an Olympic stadium other than look at it … It was pretty clever to turn ours into a ballpark.”
Frazier: “I think all the cities in America would be happy not to have had to pay a penny for their baseball stadium.”
The 1996 Games were characterized in the world press as utilitarian at the center and crassly commercial on the periphery — Frazier: “Frankly, I couldn’t give a damn what the Times of London says” — but nobody can say they left Atlanta in the financial lurch. If some folks were disappointed they didn’t make as much money as they’d hoped, no taxpayer can say he still feels the burden from those 17 days of 16 years ago.
Contrast this with Montreal, which was in debt for three decades after its 1976 Summer Games. Or with the 2000 Sydney Games, which needed a late infusion of government money for its show to go on. Or with London, which is, according to Forbes, spending between $15 to $20 billion (the bulk from public money) on its Games.
In the main, the Atlanta Games were a success — for Atlanta. Maybe not for the Times of London or the sawed-off Samaranch, but for those of us who remained after those 17 days. “I don’t know anyone who didn’t have a wonderful experience going to those Olympics,” Hope said, and the 16 intervening years haven’t been all bad, either.
Said Anderson: “Centennial Park is the most concrete part [of our legacy], with the kids playing in the rings. [The Park] cleaned up a whole side of town. That’s been very positive … Centennial Park was for Atlanta the remaining icon, and that’s pretty good.”
Frazier: “The legacy I see is that a lot of people who live around here came downtown Atlanta and saw a lot of potential. The Midtown expansion, the Georgia Tech expansion — I can’t give the Olympics credit for all of that, but I think of the Olympics as the ink track in the water.”
Now, if we could just find a better place for that caldron …
By Mark Bradley
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143 comments Add your comment
MadMatt
August 11th, 2012
4:37 pm
I have a lot of fond memories of the 1996 games and watching the London games has brought back a lot of moments from those games.
I think a lot of people had unreasonable expectations from the games, but there can be no doubt that Atlanta is better off today because of the games. Did the world change its view of Atlanta? Probably not, but when you look at the Braves stadium Olympic park and all of the wide, modern sidewalks we have, there can be no doubt the benefits outweigh the negatives.
Nite Owl
August 11th, 2012
4:44 pm
Sat right up front at the turn for Michael Johnson’s 19.32 world record. I’ve never experienced an atmosphere that electric.
These days, with Usain Bolt running out of his mind, it’s hard to explain to my kids how amazing that run was back then.
JSS
August 11th, 2012
5:09 pm
Ted Striker and Heart of Darkness bingo! There’s no one denying those points… PMC, very enlightened…
JSS
August 11th, 2012
5:22 pm
Nite Owl, not hard to explain at all… When you realize that only 4 men had run below 20 seconds between 1968 to 1984, that says it all… Only 1 man had done it at sea level (Lewis)… Boit is Lee Evans, appreciate it when he gets serious and decides to go hard at breaking 19 seconds… I saw Michael Johnson 96 Olympic Trial WR and knew had another .20 in him so the Olympics had no problem in dropping 19:32… That was his limit. I was in Berlin when he dropped 19:19, he’s got plenty left in the tank! He’s got something Johnson never had, Blake can go down around 19 flat in perfect conditions.
Auburn cheating big surprise NOT
August 11th, 2012
6:54 pm
any AJC sportswriter ever thought about investigating h s transcripts for Auburn as well as other schools in the SEC? That story isn’t going away. Are you all just lazy or do you have it too good to let other media people find these things out and then you latch on with a blog? Seriously, when is the last time any AJC sportswriter investigated any scandals going on in college football? Never
JSS
August 11th, 2012
7:27 pm
Never fails, stupid college corrupt ball comment pops up in some moronic way!
jojo
August 11th, 2012
7:35 pm
Screw the IOC and Juan. It was a great Olympics! I was one of hundreds of volunteers for the games, and every one I talked to loved our city. But what really impressed them the most was the courage and class shown by Atlanta AFTER the park bombing. So, yes I’m proud to be an Atlantan, and to h— with all those who complained!
DC
August 11th, 2012
9:21 pm
The ’90’s were a very exciting time for sports fans in our area.The Braves World Series games created a magic and energy that were only surpassed by the Olympics.When the Games came,that excitement was magnified many times over. But,since 1996, there have been few events except the 1998 Falcons Super Bowl team,that have had that magic and energy. That Super Bowl excitement went away much too quickly.Nothing since then has really excited me to that level. That is why I have watched as much of the Olympics,Summer & Winter,as I can.These sports interest me more than all of the college & pro football pablum that we watch and read about all year long.
jj
August 11th, 2012
9:48 pm
It was one of the best two weeks of my life. Got to see a lot of unique events. Met people from all over the
world. Yeah, parts of atlanta looked like a carnival midway but the effete flair of London, Sydney and Athens just aren’t the south.
JMC
August 11th, 2012
9:58 pm
This article is “most exceptional.”
MM
August 11th, 2012
10:03 pm
We may have had worst mascot but we had best logo! Time to bid again?! One more time Billy Payne!
LakeDawg
August 11th, 2012
10:09 pm
People like to jump on Campbell, mostly because they’re racist. Of course, Campbell was slime and the kiosks were embarrassing, but they happened because Payne and his white cronies cut Campbell and his black cronies out of the economic pie.
One Long Eyebrow
August 11th, 2012
10:09 pm
You could buy a tee shirt anytime, anywhere. Those tee shirt stands were so close to the gates that there was some criticism of the Mayor and the City but where else in the world could you buy a tee shirt that easy and that quick and then walk in the door and see the games? The Atlanta Games will always be remembered as the top tee shirt games in Olympic history. The AJC should know that and be proud.
Fred
August 11th, 2012
10:33 pm
It amazes me the negative people commenting that exhibit their lack of knowledge about the legacy. Amateur sports in the metro area exploded before the games and continued after the games. No legacy? Check out http://www.georgiagames.org/ for the the legacy of amateur athletics.
Didn’t like the venues? Artistic gymnastics – think Magnificent 7 – were watched by more people than ever before due to the size of the Dome. Atlanta pioneered the concept of the Olympic circle with most of the venues closely located. Not all to be sure but most. The central Olympic village was a first here. Centennial Olympic Park was envisioned as a gathering place for athletes and spectators that couldn’t get tickets and lived up to that admirably! More countries and more athletes than ever before and still one of the largest ever.
My brother worked at the main press center at the Inforum and has plenty of stories about IOC members and their attitudes. I worked at the Emory press center and can tell you that the journalists based there *loved* the facilities. Speaking of, the communications infrastructure put in place for the Atlanta Games was the best ever and again modeled the way for the future.
There were tons of positives things about the Atlanta Games!
Liz
August 11th, 2012
10:35 pm
Internationals considered our games overly commercialized. The IOC didn’t appreciate being duped about our climate during the summer months. Billy Payne, our “used car salesman” for getting the games, snickered about how he was able to pull off that little white lie, per televised interviews on TV. See for interesting history on the 96′ Olympics: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1995/07/16/no-payne-no-games.html
The people of Atlanta were friendly and warm host. However much fun and good the games were, Richard Jewell was never properly honored for being the hero in the Centennial Park bombing. Besides giving the caldron a place of great honor, the park should be renamed the “Jewel Centennial Park”. Please join me in asking Mayor Reid do to this. It will do you heart good, and help erase the darkness that stills ligers about the ‘96 games. It is time to have a huge party in his honor.
foshizl
August 12th, 2012
12:43 am
Put the Cauldron in Centennial Park! It looks horrible over the Orange Lot, like a forgotten middle child.
foshizl
August 12th, 2012
12:58 am
“Fred” – I agree. I took part in one of the first Georgia Games as a 16 year old . . . . . . . Remember Beijing’s BIRDS NEST? It’ll be a shopping mall –yes, a mall — in 5 years. BRAVES FANS do you remember OLYMPIC STADIUM IN MONTREAL? Perhaps the worst baseball venue in the history of MLB. The LA Coliseum? Probably the worst college football venue in Division I. Yes, I’d say the Turner Field retrostruction was a great success, and probably the BEST use, economically and culturally, that ANY Olympic host has gotten out of its stadium post-Games.
And before jumping on WHATIZIT, remember that ALL Olympic mascots are horrible. Just look at local reaction to the 2012 iteration: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/why-does-the-london-2012-olympic-mascot-look-like-a-penis/3013852.article
what of it?
August 12th, 2012
6:16 am
Mexico City “world class”? I guess if you don’t mind rampant kidnappings, a government controlled by drug lords, and air quality worse than china.
Perhaps we should have had more white elephant stadiums like Beijing to demonstrate how much money we can waste.
Chris Sanchez
August 12th, 2012
8:04 am
During the London games I saw a piece on the facilities used during the Beijing. Most have fallen into disrepair having been abandoned while others were demolished after the games. Only a few are in use today. Atlanta decided not to throw billions of dollars down a hole like so many other cities have done and look at the benefit. To be paying for 17 days of glory three decades later is just plain silly. Bravo Atlanta for doing something right!
Jack Bobeck
August 12th, 2012
8:24 am
I was standing at the corner of Fowler and 4th Street at Tech in 1990 when it was announced that the “1996 Olympics will go to the City of Atlanta” by Juan the Grouch, and we jumped up and down and thought we had all won the lottery. Which we had, only 6 years later and many great facilities built, I think Tech was the real winner with dorms, swimming, improvements to facilities. As a Tech grad, it helped my school probably more than any other entity, although I do like the new Braves Stadium and was at the closing ceremonies in Atlanta, was such a great time!
When else do you get to walk downtown on Peachtree, streets closed, in a street party (Freaknik-yeah, but really) with people from all over the world, scalping Olympic tickets. I still remember being in the Keys when the tix went on sale, I was on hold for 2 hours and had $400 in roaming charges the next month on my cell phone. Still, it was the 2 best weeks of traffic Atlanta has EVER seen, the organizers scared the heck out of everyone to stay away, leave, don’t come downtown unless you need to. I loved the traffic for the games! We should have another 2 weeks like that! Of course, loved Bud World, and agree that Centennial Park DID clean up an entire side of town, now can we fix Underground, please?
WARTALONS
August 12th, 2012
8:53 am
What to do with that ATLANTA CAULDRON? Would make good scrap metal. It was the ugliest design for all time. UGLY! But Atlanta should do something better than where the Cauldron is now. Put it on the back of the property between the Aquarium and the Coca Cola museum. It could be seen from a distance on the expressways and the COPark. Would fit with the Coke decorations. Set up an icecream bar or a CHICK-FIL-A under the Cauldron. WAFFLE CONES or WAFFLE PANCAKES would be great.
Ron
August 12th, 2012
9:33 am
To not leave a massive financial mess was a huge success by ACOG. We may not have impressed the snobs, but the games in Atlanta were a success. Massive debts were the norm for Olympic cities, as stated in the article – yet Atlanta showed it did not have to be that way. Its no joke what the organizers did. If the Olympics dont come to Atlanta, maybe the Super Bowl, Final Four, etc etc take many many more years before we host any of those events.
Our government (all levels) could learn something from ACOG
Sweet Daddy Pop
August 12th, 2012
10:13 am
Nice read Mark. I think the city should light the cauldron every four years for the duration of the Summer Olympics. It’d be a nice reminder of what happened here, and help to preserve some of our legacy. If it’s burning the rest will take care of itself.
billcanoe
August 12th, 2012
10:17 am
I worked as a volunteer in the Olympics and I think Atlanta (and Georgia) did a GREAT job with the Olympics. That said, I really regret that we turned Olympic Stadium into Turner Field. Olympic Stadium was a great, world-class 85,000 seat stadium which, if preserved, could have hosted great events in the future, much as the Los Angeles Colisseum does, AND the Braves could still have played there (with minor modifications). I think we blew that one.
crimson 1
August 12th, 2012
11:31 am
Boy I bet Greece wish they had a do over. They so far in debt that it will take forever to get out of. You don’t make money hosting the Olympics. You only get national pride. Only the big boys can afford to host these games. Sorry about that future debt Brazil. Brotha can you spare a dime.
THE Dixie Redcoat Band
August 12th, 2012
1:37 pm
We sure can’t forget those cardboard/plywood vending stands downtown…classy.
gone are the days
August 12th, 2012
4:27 pm
Why no mention of our legacy of buying our way in. When Salt lake got caught paying for votes it was quickly ascertained that Billy Pain had done the same thing for Atlanta. Atlanta is a wonderful place to live and work. I was born in Piedmont hospital and through college lived in Georgia. I have since lived on the West Coast, the East Coast and I’m back in atlanta. But having grown up in and worked for most of my life in the travel industry I can assure you Atlanta is as non-international a city that I’ve ever known. It seems not a single person ever wants to acknowledge we bought our turn on the big stage. Maybe that’s the real reason most Cities like London are dismissive of Atlanta’s games.
Keith Strawn
August 12th, 2012
7:19 pm
Mark, Thanks for the insight. Well done, as always. Although I moved away from Atlanta a few months before the Games, I believe Georgia State, my alma mater, has student housing as a result of the Games. I remember the “countdown” clock underneath the MARTA station, when it was more than a thousand days out. Now, here we are, 16 years past the event. Your piece was a nice memory jogger, Mark. Thanks again.
Dave
August 12th, 2012
8:26 pm
Perhaps the Cauldron should have been moved over to Centennial Olympic Park.
Braves #17 Fan
August 12th, 2012
10:58 pm
Atlanta did great! And Izzy is not bad either.
O4W
August 12th, 2012
11:07 pm
@billcanoe
The Olympic Stadium’s conversion into Turner Field was the correct decision, as Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was very outdated by 1996 and we had no use for a track-and-field facility that large. The genius part was that the conversion was intended all along, and as a result we have a debt-free beautiful baseball park for the Braves.
Now, the location on the other hand stinks (should have put it next to an existing MARTA station or near the Dome/Omni area).
Jason
August 12th, 2012
11:32 pm
Atlanta is ranked as a “Alpha-” global city. We’re not London or Paris but Atlanta is a bigger player on the world stage than many will admit. For all the unwarranted boosterism Atlanta had in the decades before the games, we’ve entered a period of equally extreme unwarranted negativity. It’s too bad because these things tend to be self fulfilling prophecies.
Ranking of world cities: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city
Atlanta Better. | Kudzu and Concrete
August 13th, 2012
12:13 am
[...] Bradley at the AJC piggybacks on the same angle and writes: The 1996 Games were characterized in the world press as [...]
You want great ?
August 13th, 2012
6:36 am
China has 14 Gold Medals in these “sports” : Badminton, Ping-Pong and Synchronized with a population in excess of one billion more than USA.
United States of America Gold Medals : Soccer Women, Basketball Men, Basketball Women, Gymnastics Women, Gymnastics Women Individual, Boxing Middleweight Women, Tennis Men’s Doubles, Tennis Women’s Individual, Tennis Women’s Doubles, Track and Field Men’s Decathlon, Track and Field Men’s Triple Jump, Track and Field Women’s 400 Meter, Track and Field Women’s Pole Vault, Track and Field Women’s 200 meter, Track and Field Women’s Long Jump, Track and Field Men’s 100 Meter Hurdles, Track and Field 4 x 400 Women, Gymnastics Women Floor, Beach Women’s Volleyball, Cycling Women, Judo Women, Rowing Women, Wrestling Men 96 kg, Wrestling Men 74 kg, and in Swimming 16 Gold Medals 4 Men’s and 12 Women’s a total of 104 Medals 29 each bronze and silver, and 46 Gold 17 Men’s 29 Women’s.
Morning Reads For Monday August 13, 2012 — Peach Pundit
August 13th, 2012
6:39 am
[...] Britain 65. Yea Baby Yea! – Images from last night’s Closing Ceremony. – Mark Bradley on Atlanta’s Olympic legacy. – The Braves still trail the Nationals by 4 games but hold the wildcard lead. – Tommy Hanson threw [...]
Radio GaGa
August 13th, 2012
7:13 am
Explain why they now have plans to tear down the Olympic tennis center, which has sit there in Stone Mountain virtually unused for 16 years. Why hasn’t the city’s supposedly vibrant tennis community found a use for it? Why hasn’t it hosted major events?
wj
August 13th, 2012
7:26 am
In spite of its absolute failure of the structure that support the caldron – the caldron itself is not bad. Unfortunately, the structure and bridge miss the mark as both art or architecture, thus failing to highlight the cauldron and its significance. Nonetheless, the Atlanta caldron has a special place in Olympic history. To the best of my recollection, Atlanta was the first modern Olympic Games to distinguish the torch (think runners carrying the flame) and the caldron (think stationary and permanent) in conjunction with the Olympic flame. Ask a member of the private sector (not ACOG or USOC or IOC) stadium design team and they will tell you how that came about.
You want great ?
August 13th, 2012
7:31 am
I am not too concerned about any population total showing Atlanta at other than 6 million. We have no Ocean like New York or Los Angeles, no mountains like Denver, no Lakes like Chicago to keep us from growing in all directions. You cannot measure Atlanta population and say it is less than 6 million. Our great city spreads out in all directions. It is far larger in size than the 60 mile Perimeter I-285, in fact, major parts of Atlanta our outside I-285, especially Northern Suburbs. Surely, Douglasville is Atlanta, Dunwoody, Marietta, Norcross, Sandy Springs, Gainesville, Lawrenceville, Tucker, Duluth, Peachtree City, Alpharetta, Woodstock, Canton, Conyers, Covington, Griffin, Hampton – in fact there are 27 counties which make up Atlanta. We’re made up of Latino, Yankees who stayed here, Asian, Indian and Native Atlantans such as myself. In fact, there are parts of our great city where you can’t find anyone but Mexicans, Chinese, Korean, South American, Viet Namese – it’s a wonderful melting pot.
Then, we have this 1-horse newspaper and its lazy sportswriters who cannot be bothered to write other than drivel – who if they do stumble upon the sports news’ event of the day to write about, fail to mention one single salient point about the event.
We, instead, are bombarded with stupid poorly thought-out on the topic at hand lies and misrepresentations and fact oh my the facts left out entirely – such as EQUAL TIME for Georgie tek and UGA in sports. How many of the 8 medals UGA put up did Georgie tek put up ? When, oh when, will 1-day 1 sportswriter for AJ-C mention that Georgie tek is no Probation in FOOTBALL again 2012 ?
No.
We have sports’ teams here, every major sport – it’s just that the sportswriters of this 1-horse newspaper town don’t say about them that matters according to them. They want to SHAPE the opinions of others, instead of reporting the news. Put u
They want to CENSOR anyone offering a different view. They wish to sell newspapers for 10 cents a copy to put Times out of business and then back now to asking 10 times that, afterwards. Just so that we can build-up this nincompoops we call sportswriters in this town. Go back to North Carolina.
Put up your bio.
Doom and Gloom
August 13th, 2012
9:50 am
Umm…. The Olympics…. The Good: New Venues ( For what it was worth)… Now the Unfortunate Bad from an Atlantan who was actually from here prior to the Olympics. Tore down all the real history in Atlanta, including the Projects… Yes, the Projects!!!! Techwood Homes was actually a famous site, the first Project Complex in America’s history, and ironically, the first Project Complex ever torn down! Atlanta has been a “Fake” City with nothing but arrogant, money hungry out-of-towners ever since it came here in ‘96, I for one wish it had never came……..
robodawg
August 13th, 2012
10:03 am
Seems like the Olympics were the beginning of downtown’s rejuvenation from a dead zone to something resembling a college campus around Georgia State. The west side near Tech is also much improved from what it was pre-Olympics. On the whole pretty positive for Atlanta.
In hindsight you do wish there had been SOME public investment in infrastructure and public transportation. Greater investments then would still be paying dividends today.
Morning Reads For Monday August 13, 2012
August 13th, 2012
12:54 pm
[...] Great Britain 65. Yeah Baby Yeah! – Images from last night’s Closing Ceremony. – Mark Bradley on Atlanta’s Olympic legacy. – The Braves still trail the Nationals by 4.5 games but share the wildcard lead with Pittsburgh. – [...]
hootsmon
August 17th, 2012
7:11 am
One thing stands out for me. Why was Atlanta snubbed at the opening ceremony? You don’t know do you? Well, two days earlier Mitt Romney had gone on record for saying that he felt London wasn’t ready for the games. Result: an enraged nation and ATL and LA edited out of the video. Serve y’all right as your a GOP state.
hootsmon
August 17th, 2012
7:13 am
Yeah and I can’t spell “you’re” either!