GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A relic from the 1996 Olympics is coming down.
Gwinnett County leaders began demolition of the tennis stadium near Stone Mountain to make way for new development.
The nearly 13,000 seat stadium was really only used during the summer of '96, when the tennis world focused on its courts in the shadows of Stone Mountain.
“Andre Aggasi won his only gold medal here in 1996,” said John Bankhead, with the Stone Mountain Memorial Association.
Since then, it's been mostly vacant and falling into disrepair. Gwinnett County leaders have been eyeing this property next to Stone Mountain Park for years.
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“It's time for that facility to come down,” said Charlotte Nash, chair of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.
With its life as a tennis venue over, officials bought the complex last year and hope developers will be attracted to the site, which is near 500 acres of land and is just off Highway 78.
“How critical is this area to this side of the county? I think this is going to be the greatest thing that has happened to this area in a very long time, probably since 1996,” said Evermore CID Director Jim Brooks.
County leaders say demolition will take several months and about a $1 million. Many of the seats in the stadium and the outer courts have been removed.
The land will be flattened and then marketed as a gateway to the county.
Leaders say no firm proposals have been made.
“I'm trying hard to keep my own ideas to myself so that I can leave it open for the development community to bring their own idea's. In one way, it's a little sad,” Nash said.