Looking out the window of his Olympic organizing committee office at a 20-acre stretch of warehouses, abandoned buildings and parking lots, Billy Payne saw a park.
Recently back from the Games in Barcelona, Payne came home smitten by a half-mile stretch of wide city streets that organizers had turned over to visitors, closing them to traffic to create a communal space.
The stretch of urban blight outside Payne’s window looked nothing like that section of Barcelona, but it was well located. The Olympic Stadium, Georgia Dome and World Congress Center all would be easy walks.
“Great location, but it was dilapidated old piece-of-crap buildings,” Payne said. “So I had this idea that we could create our own gathering place and clean that up while we do it.
“Right in the middle of the Olympics, trying to raise all that money with some difficulties — the newspapers kicking our ass all the time — I added this,” Payne recalled. “Let’s buy all this land and make a gathering place for the Olympics.”
When Payne approached the Atlanta-based Robert Woodruff Foundation for a grant to fund the project, he was greeted by raised eyebrows.
“I remember the guy laughed at me,” Payne said. “Something like, ‘Excuse me, Billy. Aren’t you supposed to be putting on the Olympics?’ Nevertheless, they contributed.”
The foundation delivered a $15 million gift to bankroll land acquisition on what would be a $75 million project that became a centerpiece of the Games — and perhaps its greatest sustaining legacy, at least among its venues. After the Games, the park became a catalyst for the development of an entertainment district that now includes the Georgia Aquarium and College Football Hall of Fame.
“I think the legacy of the venue is all wonderful,” Payne said. “But the real legacy and story of the Atlanta Games is the ability to achieve even outrageous dreams when you come together as a team. I’ve tried to define our legacy in a different way, but I just can’t do it.”
