Turner Field, the home of the Atlanta Braves and the 1996 Olympics, will get its “third life” when Georgia State University converts it to a college football stadium, Atlanta city leaders said Thursday.
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Reed’s office said in a statement that the news conference is planned for 10 a.m. Thursday at the stadium just south of downtown Atlanta. Details of the sale have not been disclosed.
Neighbors in Summerhill, Peoplestown, Pittsburgh, Mechanicsville and Grant Park have long pressured the city to make sure they get something better than a bunch of parking lots out of the acreage, enjoy new amenities and job opportunities for residents, and don’t get priced out of their homes.
The Braves are expected to be out of Turner Field by December 31. The university has been working with Atlanta-based Carter and Associates since 2014.
The Turner Field redevelopment is the cornerstone of the Turner Field Stadium Neighborhoods Liveable Center Inititaive (LCI).
The overall project will also involve building a new baseball field, student housing, shops and restaurants nearby. According to Reed, the redevelopment will also include bike paths, an extension of the Atlanta Streetcar and a boulevard connecting the project to the Atlanta Zoo, which is undergoing a $41 million renovation and expansion. “It’s about reinventing the dense neighborhoods and walkable street grids this community had before the upheaval of stadiums and interstates more than 50 years ago”. Hank Aaron’s statue will remain on the site as well.
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Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed plans to make an announcement amid reports that Turner Field, the stadium built for the 1996 Olympic Games and later converted into a baseball stadium for the Atlanta Braves, will be renovated for use by Georgia State University. The school’s current student body exceeds 53,000 students.
