Athens' new $126M arena gears up for topping out Josh Green Thu, 11/09/2023 - 08:37 A year and ½ after breaking ground, a downtown Athens project with ambitions of becoming a versatile, regional destination is about to reach a significant milestone.
Project officials tell Urbanize Atlanta a topping-out ceremony is scheduled the morning of Nov. 28 for the new Classic Center Arena, a $126-million coliseum described as nothing less than “Northeast Georgia’s premier event facility.”
Throughout this year, the arena has taken shape on N. Thomas Street near UGA’s North Campus and other landmarks, including the Athens Banner-Herald building and several downtown hotels. Project heads have described it as an anchor for that part of Athens’ vibrant downtown.
Progress on upper-lever seating and roof infrastructure at the Classic Center Arena project last week. JE Dunn Construction
At the ceremony later this month, officials with the arena, a new Black History Museum, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, and UGA’s club hockey team, Ice Hockey Dawgs, are scheduled to speak.
According to project reps, the arena is now on pace to open in summer 2024.
Designed by Perkins + Will and Smallwood, the arena will host music, sports, entertainment, and other events, with 5,500 permanent seats and the ability to host up to 8,500 people for in-the-round shows, or 9,000 for basketball. It’s being built by JE Dunn Construction, whose recent work in Atlanta includes Midtown’s Whistler building and Portman Holding’s 712 West Peachtree.
Courtesy of The Classic Center
Courtesy of The Classic Center
The venue will provide a new option for downtown concerts, conventions, tournaments, and other events, plus a larger arena for the university’s hockey team. (An ECHL hockey team has also signed on to call the arena home.)
Of the project’s estimated $126 million cost, $33 million is being funded via SPLOST. It’ll join the multi-use Classic Center next door, a complex that includes a performing arts theater, conference center, and outdoor pavilion for weddings, concerts, and sports.
Project backers have predicted The Classic Center Arena will create 600 jobs and generate 90,000 more hotel room nights annually, with an overall impact of $30 million per year.
The Classic Center's 300 N. Thomas Street location in downtown Athens, a couple of blocks from University of Georgia's campus. Google Maps
The 192,000-square-foot project joins million-dollar condos (now under construction) and transformative mixed-use development as projects of significant scale in downtown Athens’ pipeline right now.
Initial projections called for the arena to finish construction this month.
For a preview of this forthcoming Classic City landmark, see the gallery above.
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300 N. Thomas Street Athens The Classic Center Arena Downtown Athens Impact Construction Management J.E. Dunn Perkins & Will Perkins&Will Smallwood JE Dunn Construction Georgia Bulldogs UGA Georgia Sports
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Progress on upper-lever seating and roof infrastructure at the Classic Center Arena project last week. JE Dunn Construction
The Classic Center's 300 N. Thomas Street location in downtown Athens, a couple of blocks from University of Georgia's campus. Google Maps
Courtesy of The Classic Center
Courtesy of The Classic Center
Courtesy of The Classic Center
Courtesy of The Classic Center
Courtesy of The Classic Center
Subtitle With up to 9,000 seats, project aims to be regional destination for music, sports, and entertainment
Neighborhood Athens
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