We have another name for the stadium that began life as an Olympics venue and has since been known as Turner Field and then Georgia State Stadium: Central Parc Credit Union Stadium.
The name change, to the tune of $21 million, comes after a naming rights deal between Georgia State University, which took over the facility after the Atlanta Braves moved to Truist Park in Cobb County, and Central Parc Credit Union. The Central Parc Credit Union Stadium name change has received preliminary approval from a Board of Regents committee; full approval from the Georgia State University Board of Regents is expected this week.
The facility certainly has had a colorful history. It was built alongside Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, with both facilities playing a role in the 1996 Summer Olympics as a 85,000-seat venue holding opening and closing ceremonies, with Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium hosting baseball and softball. After the end of the 1996 Summer Paralympics, the north end of the Olympic stadium was torn down and replaced with a restaurant and other venues, with the remaining bowl adjusted to host Atlanta Braves baseball. It was at this time it was renamed Turner Field, after TBS founder and Braves owner Ted Turner. Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was torn down once the facility could handle the Braves; its outside fence and field markings survive in the parking lot.
With the Braves’ move to Truist Park, the city then sold Turner Field and the surrounding acreage to Georgia State University, which then converted it to a football stadium and announced a plan to redevelop the surrounding area, including the construction of a new baseball ballpark where Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium once stood.
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