Construction crews continue to make progress on the overhaul to Georgia State Stadium, a facility that is being converted for football.
The former Turner Field has been the subject of considerable work over the last several months. With Georgia State set to begin occupying the facility for the 2017 NCAA season, the former home of the Atlanta Braves has required a series of extensive projects to get ready for its new sport.
In the end, the process will lead to several noticeable changes while leaving some key elements of Turner Field intact. Georgia State Stadium will offer a significantly smaller capacity than Turner Field, and the footprint is being changed to provide better sightlines for football.
However, key features of Turner Field will be employed by Georgia State, which has sought to enhance some of the facility’s existing amenities. More from Fox 5:
“We changed the footprint. We changed from a diamond to a rectangle. We had to change the fans’ perspective on the field. To do that, we didn’t just build a modified football field inside a baseball diamond, we actually had to disassemble the diamond and create the rectangle for the lower bowl,” said Brian Carroll, Georgia State University.
New stands were built in what would have been right field. They are reusing stadium seats for it. They will also re-use what was Braves Vision, the huge high definition Mitsubishi screen.
They refurbished the suites, which have all sold out for the Panthers first season.
Georgia State is set to make its regular season debut at the stadium on August 31. This is the second time that the facility has been modified for another purpose, as it originally opened in 1996 as Centennial Olympic Stadium before being converted into a ballpark for the 1997 Major League Baseball season.
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