Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Stadia Around Town

Three new stadiums are under construction in Atlanta: the Mercedes Dome, SunTrust Park, and Georgia State’s new baseball stadium. Until the Georgia Dome is torn down, metro Atlanta has more than 16 facilities housing professional and collegiate sports teams.
 
Atlanta Civic Center (weightlifting/wrestling)
Atlanta Municipal Auditorium (basketball/boxing) 1909
CoolRay Field (Gwinnett Braves) 2011
Emory University (baseball/basketball)
 
Georgia Dome (Falcons) 1995
Georgia State baseball stadium 2018
Georgia State basketball arena
Georgia Tech Aquatics Center 1996
 
Georgia Tech Baseball Stadium 1970
Grant Field (Tech football) 1940
Herndon Stadium (Morris Brown) 1996
Infinite Energy Arena (Gwinnett Gladiators) 2005
 
Kennesaw State football stadium 2015
McCamish Pavilion (Tech basketball) 1960
Mercedes Benz Stadium (Falcons/soccer) 2017
Oglethorpe University (baseball/basketball)
 
O’Keefe Gymnasium (Georgia Tech Volleyball)
Phillips Arena (Hawks/Dream) 2005
Piedmont Park (college football/road races)
SunTrust Park (Braves) 2017
Turner Field (Georgia State football) 1996
 
Already demolished:
Alexander Memorial Coliseum (Tech/Hawks)
Atlanta Fulton County Stadium (Chiefs) 1965
Atlanta Sports Arena (basketball/concerts)
Georgia Tech’s “Navy Gym”  
Georgia Tech’s “Old Gym” and Drownproofing Pool
The Omni (Flames) 1970
Ponce de Leon Park (Crackers)
Second-Ponce de Leon Gymnasium 
When President-Elect William Howard Taft dedicated the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium in 1909, he was served a possum dinner. The AMA (above) went by a few other names. I was looking for the place Cassius Clay fought. Sounds like the AMA hosted basketball tournaments back in the 20’s and 30’s.
 
REID: What about the Atlanta Sports Arena that used to house basketball games back in the '40s ????? My dad used to take me a lot on Sunday afternoons to see the Ladies Sports Arena Blues Basketball team play their home games.
 
Where was the Sports Arena located? The AMA is on the Georgia State Campus across from the old Coke Museum and Underground Atlanta. It is now called Alumni Hall. I tried to do a little research – I guess the Atlanta Sports Arena was not another name for the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium. The Sports Arena may have been at 210 Chester Avenue, a couple of blocks east of Oakland Cemetery.

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