Interior of Stone Mountain Tennis Center Main Arena
Unidentified photographer, Stone Mountain, June 1996
Georgia Amateur Athletic Foundation Collection, Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center
Opened: 1996 | Abandoned: 2007 | Demolished: 2018
The tennis facility for the 1996 Olympic Games is one of the most obvious stories of failure. The venue never retained consistent planning and use after the summer of 1996 and ended up in prolonged abandonment until its demolition in 2018.
After public backlash from previous proposals to locate the tennis facility in Blackburn Park neighborhood off Ashford Dunwoody Road, Atlanta’s Olympic organizers finalized a deal that would construct a new 12,000 seat arena near the other Olympic venues in Stone Mountain Park. The massive complex included 15 courts outside the walls of the main stadium.
After the 1996 Games, the center hosted tennis championship events until 1998 after which it was intermittently used for concerts and other events. In 2007, the facility closed and was no longer maintained.