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Personally, here's what I think should ultimately be done...
1. Choose the SOUTH Site for the new stadium.
-Make it open air, with one side of the stadium open for a city skyline view
-With the street being raised in that area, make an underground access to the Stadium, and create a long underground cooridor filled with retail space, connecting to Underground Atlanta
-Give the new stadium a "Railroad depot" feel/theme commemorating Atlanta's railroad history.
2. Move the Atlanta Braves into a new stadium build directly across the street from the New Falcons stadium AND Philip's Arena.
- Also make that stadium accessible from the new retail cooridor extending to Underground Atlanta
-Also give that stadium a "Railroad depot" feel.
-Turn the old Fulton County Stadium/massive parking lot site, AND the Turner Field site into a NEW Public Park with a great view of downtown overlooking the park. Keep BOTH (Fulton Co. and Turner Field) baseball fields as incooporated into the park green space. Even keep the infields, and pitchers' mounds, outfield walls and all IN the park. Erect a statue commemorating the exact spot that Hank Aaron hit HR 755. Allow kids for generations to come to the park and ACTUALLY stand on the exact same mound that pitchers like John Smoltz and Tom Glavine once stood, round an infield that players like Chipper Jones once ran... Etc...
3. Develop an underground cooridor connecting Underground Atlanta to the NEW ATLANTA SPORTS COMPLEX
-IN "the New Underground Atlanta" make sure to open locations for several sports bars, retail space and activities such as a "Lucky Strike" Bowling Alley, an LA Fitness gym, Go Cart racing, etc... ALL UNDERGROUND
-Allow people to walk up and down the length of the cooridor with open containers (drinks) simulating being able to walk the streets with an open drink (but not really because it's inside on an artificial street).
-Market it as an ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT
4. Renovate the Old Georgia Dome into a New wing to the current GWCC.
-Gut then entire dome of it's stadium seats, and replace it with floors of more convention space.
-Keep the current Dome roof as a commemorative top, and make the top floor of the new convention center space open under that dome top and fill it with an indoor park and small amusement park equiped with fair sized rides like a roller coaster, water slides, etc... Kind of like the Mall of America, or Chicago's Navy Pier, NY's Coney Island, LA's Santa Monica Pier... "Atlanta's GA Dome"
The new SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX site will be easily accessible by the current Marta Station, underground walking path from Underground Atlanta, and by street as it is now.
Imagine the NEW atmosphere underneath the street as you stand in surroundings looking like an updated version of Underground Atlanta as you make your way through a line into the New Atlanta Falcons stadium/New Atlanta Braves Stadium, and you hear the roaring of real trains as they roll past in the Railroad gulch.
NAMESAKES
1. Name the New ATLANTA FALCONS Stadium either after Arthur Blank's company (Home Depot), after another ATLANTA Business, OR Name it after the SYMBOL OF ATLANTA, which is THE PHOENIX. A Bird ON FIRE!!! Use that as reason to remind the Falcons to "CATCH ON FIRE"
-AT the stadium, create a caldron shaped like a large black Falcon perched at the top of the stadium, then when the stadium opens, light the caldron with a NEW ETERNAL FLAME, reminding the Falcons in this new era to STAY HOT, and NEVER LET THAT FIRE DIE OUT... It would also fit Atlanta's Phoenix symbol and give reason to calling the stadium "Phoenix Field"
2. Name the New ATLANTA BRAVES Stadium either after Bobby Cox or Henry Aaron. I can see people saying "I'm going down to 'The Hank" or "Welcome sports fans to the Hammerin Hank in Hot Atlanta, Georgia on this Spring afternoon as we get ready for today's Braves game against the visiting Washington Nationals..."
I like all of your ideas Psykomonkee, except I think they should tear down the Dome and replace it with high rise residential and hotels. I think they should also create some kind of "highline" (similar to NY) over the GWCC, and do something on "top" of the GWCC so it's less of a barrier to the rest of the city. Maybe some kind of roof park, I don't know, but something should be done to make that complex a CONNECTOR rather than a BARRIER as it currently is in my opinion. Atlanta could then have a renaissance of English Ave and Vine City - thus over time the neighborhood would force improved development downtown like VaHi did for Midtown.
Personally, here's what I think should ultimately be done...
1. Choose the SOUTH Site for the new stadium.
-Make it open air, with one side of the stadium open for a city skyline view
-With the street being raised in that area, make an underground access to the Stadium, and create a long underground cooridor filled with retail space, connecting to Underground Atlanta
-Give the new stadium a "Railroad depot" feel/theme commemorating Atlanta's railroad history.
2. Move the Atlanta Braves into a new stadium build directly across the street from the New Falcons stadium AND Philip's Arena.
- Also make that stadium accessible from the new retail cooridor extending to Underground Atlanta
-Also give that stadium a "Railroad depot" feel.
-Turn the old Fulton County Stadium/massive parking lot site, AND the Turner Field site into a NEW Public Park with a great view of downtown overlooking the park. Keep BOTH (Fulton Co. and Turner Field) baseball fields as incooporated into the park green space. Even keep the infields, and pitchers' mounds, outfield walls and all IN the park. Erect a statue commemorating the exact spot that Hank Aaron hit HR 755. Allow kids for generations to come to the park and ACTUALLY stand on the exact same mound that pitchers like John Smoltz and Tom Glavine once stood, round an infield that players like Chipper Jones once ran... Etc...
3. Develop an underground cooridor connecting Underground Atlanta to the NEW ATLANTA SPORTS COMPLEX
-IN "the New Underground Atlanta" make sure to open locations for several sports bars, retail space and activities such as a "Lucky Strike" Bowling Alley, an LA Fitness gym, Go Cart racing, etc... ALL UNDERGROUND
-Allow people to walk up and down the length of the cooridor with open containers (drinks) simulating being able to walk the streets with an open drink (but not really because it's inside on an artificial street).
-Market it as an ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT
4. Renovate the Old Georgia Dome into a New wing to the current GWCC.
-Gut then entire dome of it's stadium seats, and replace it with floors of more convention space.
-Keep the current Dome roof as a commemorative top, and make the top floor of the new convention center space open under that dome top and fill it with an indoor park and small amusement park equiped with fair sized rides like a roller coaster, water slides, etc... Kind of like the Mall of America, or Chicago's Navy Pier, NY's Coney Island, LA's Santa Monica Pier... "Atlanta's GA Dome"
The new SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX site will be easily accessible by the current Marta Station, underground walking path from Underground Atlanta, and by street as it is now.
Imagine the NEW atmosphere underneath the street as you stand in surroundings looking like an updated version of Underground Atlanta as you make your way through a line into the New Atlanta Falcons stadium/New Atlanta Braves Stadium, and you hear the roaring of real trains as they roll past in the Railroad gulch.
NAMESAKES
1. Name the New ATLANTA FALCONS Stadium either after Arthur Blank's company (Home Depot), after another ATLANTA Business, OR Name it after the SYMBOL OF ATLANTA, which is THE PHOENIX. A Bird ON FIRE!!! Use that as reason to remind the Falcons to "CATCH ON FIRE"
-AT the stadium, create a caldron shaped like a large black Falcon perched at the top of the stadium, then when the stadium opens, light the caldron with a NEW ETERNAL FLAME, reminding the Falcons in this new era to STAY HOT, and NEVER LET THAT FIRE DIE OUT... It would also fit Atlanta's Phoenix symbol and give reason to calling the stadium "Phoenix Field"
2. Name the New ATLANTA BRAVES Stadium either after Bobby Cox or Henry Aaron. I can see people saying "I'm going down to 'The Hank" or "Welcome sports fans to the Hammerin Hank in Hot Atlanta, Georgia on this Spring afternoon as we get ready for today's Braves game against the visiting Washington Nationals..."
I like some of those ideas, but that park would be super close to Grant Park. Also, I don't like the idea of tearing down a former Olympic stadium. I wish we could use the park you mention on the former site of AFCS to link the area better with downtown and Mechanicsville, with some of the features you mentioned. Linking the current Underground Atlanta with the "new" underground you mentioned, along with the Multimodal Passenger Terminal, would be awesome, and the railroad theme is definitely a winner. I hope the Major League Soccer team we may get here will take advantage of the railroad theme too.
Would the Northern site have an adverse effect on GT?
Depending on how close they get to North Avenue, using the former public housing land on Northside south of North, there could be much more gameday traffic on North and around Centennial Hill. I hope they buy all of Bauder College's land and use all of the space bounded by North, Northside, Ivan Allen, and the railroad, although Tech has some lab space nearby too. That may be where the huge tailgating space, that Kasim Reed and Blank mentioned, will be located, besides the redeveloped lots on the west side of Northside.
I like some of those ideas, but that park would be super close to Grant Park. Also, I don't like the idea of tearing down a former Olympic stadium. I wish we could use the park you mention on the former site of AFCS to link the area better with downtown and Mechanicsville, with some of the features you mentioned. Linking the current Underground Atlanta with the "new" underground you mentioned, along with the Multimodal Passenger Terminal, would be awesome, and the railroad theme is definitely a winner. I hope the Major League Soccer team we may get here will take advantage of the railroad theme too.
Wow! You're totally right! I completely forgot that was the Olympic Stadium... Probably because we turned it into a baseball stadium. I sometimes wish we had just built it for Olympic use ONLY, never to be renovated for baseball use. Made as a Stadium marvel like that one in Beijing. Oh well...
On that note, I agree to not destroy it on the fact that it was an Olympic Stadium. But, I always said before that we should have turned the site of AFCS into a park instead of the massive parking lot it became. But it's never too late to turn it into a park. That would work for me.
And yes, I believe the whole old Underground extended to a new Underground, underground Sports Complex access and Multimodal Terminal area would be AWESOME! It would definitely save and bring back Underground.
Then build something interesting on the site of the Old World of Coca Cola to draw pedestrians to walk from the new Underground back down to the old one.
Maybe something like a Casino? Some type of interesting Museum? An Art museum? A Performing Arts Museum hosting live performing arts daily? Or maybe a museum dedicated to the Food experience... I KNOW, Atlanta isn't KNOWN for food like Chicago, BUT it's never too late to start a new thing. Imagine, a ONE stop place that you can go and try REAL AUTHENTIC foods from all over America and the world in the form of a Museum dedicated to worldwide local foods... Eh? Eh?
The north site is nowhere near a MARTA station. Thousands of visitors to Falcons games use MARTA, which reduces traffic for those wishing to drive and the need of parking lots. If the north site is picked then a lot more parking will be needed, destroying valuable land that could be developed. Also traffic would be a lot worse since a lot of those visitors that used MARTA before will be driving because they will not walk 1/2-1 mile from a station. The north site would create the same problems the current Dome has by cutting off westside neighborhoods from Downtown Atlanta. The new stadium needs to be part of the urban fabric and that's why the south site is the best location.
The south site is close to 3 existing stations; Dome/GWCC, Five Points, and Garnett. https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&l...27874&t=m&z=16
It would be close to the restaurants of Downtown Atlanta and Castleberry Hill.
It could integrate with the MMPT and allow visitors to board commuter trains to the suburbs and exurbs, less parking.
It would help redevelop south downtown.
And most importantly, Magic City is just steps away!
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