PHASE 6: 1994–2008 Leading the Way to the 21st Century
Alexander Memorial Coliseum underwent a major renovation before the Olympic Games in 1996.
Architects William J. Stanley III, Arch 72, and Ivenue Love-Stanley, Arch 77, in the aquatic center they designed for the Olympic Games
IN THE YEARS LEADING UP to the Olympics, the Institute began an aggressive building and renovation schedule. Georgia Tech was selected to serve as the Olympic Village as well as the venue for several events during the Centennial Olympic Games in 1996. In 1994, Tech began constructing a new aquatic facility to host Olympic swimming and diving, while a $12 million renovation prepared Alexander Memorial Coliseum to serve as the venue for Olympic boxing and Paralympic volleyball. After the games, the aquatic center was incorporated into the design of the Student Athletic Complex, now known as the Campus Recreation Complex. To accommodate 15,000 Olympic athletes, the Institute built large apartment-style residence halls, which doubled Tech’s housing inventory. Existing dormitories were also renovated ahead of the games. The steel obelisk sculpture known as the Kessler Campanile as well as the fountain and surrounding plaza were donated by alumni and provided a s t r i k i n g n e w fo c a l p o i n t o n campus. In the late 1990s, President G. Wayne Clough worked with the Georgia Tech Foundation to buy up dilapidated properties across the highway with the goal of expanding campus east for the first time since the Downtown Connector was built in the 1950s. In 2001, construction began on Technology Square, a unique collaboration between the Institute and the private sector to revamp the area off the Fifth Street Bridge between the highway and West Peachtree Street. Tech Square opened in 2003, housing a new building for the College of Management, the Global Learning Center, Georgia Tech Hotel & Confere n c e C e n te r, t h e E c o n o m i c Development Center, Technology Square Research Building, Advanced Technology Development Center and other shops, restaurants and apartments.
Volume Volume 94 95 No. 31 2019 2018 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | 103