Atlanta, GA
The fizz is gone: Atlanta’s former Coca-Cola museum demolished for parking lot
ATLANTA (AP) — Once a shrine to the world’s most popular soft drink, the building that housed the original World of Coca-Cola is going flat at the hands of Georgia’s state government.
Crews continued Friday to demolish the onetime temple of fizz in downtown Atlanta near the state capitol, with plans to convert the site to a parking lot.
Visitors since 2007 have taken their pause that refreshes across downtown at a newer, larger Coca-Cola Co. museum in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park. The building is testament to the marketing mojo of the Atlanta-based beverage titan, getting visitors to pay to view the company’s take on its history and sample its drinks.
The park has become the heart of the city’s tourism industry, ringed by hotels and attractions including the Georgia Aquarium, the College Football Hall of Fame, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, State Farm Arena and the Georgia World Congress Center convention hall.
State government bought the original three-story museum, which opened in 1990, from Coca-Cola in 2005 for $1 million, said Gerald Pilgrim, deputy executive director of the Georgia Building Authority. The agency maintains and manages state properties.
Once Atlanta’s most visited indoor attraction, the building has been vacant since Coca-Cola moved out in 2007, Pilgrim said. He said state officials decided to demolish it because some of the existing surface parking for the Georgia Capitol complex is going to be taken up by a construction staging area to build a new legislative office building. The demolition would create new parking adjoining a former railroad freight depot that is a state-owned event space.
“With limited space around Capitol Hill, there was a need to replace the public parking that was being lost due to the neighboring construction project,” Pilgrim wrote in an email Friday.
Lawmakers agreed this year, with little dissent, to spend $392 million to build a new eight-story legislative office building for themselves and to renovate the 1889 Capitol building. That project is supposed to begin soon and be complete by the end of 2026.
Pilgrim said the demolition will cost just under $1.3 million and is projected to be complete by Aug. 1.
Sen. Raphael Warnock and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens celebrated the 21st Century Road to Housing Act on Monday. The new law aims to make housing construction easier and to prevent corporations from buying large amounts of single-family homes.
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The Atlanta Hawks are now 3-0 in Las Vegas.
Despite being down some of their most talented players, such as Kingston Flemings,Asa Newell, and Zuby Ejiofor, the Hawks notched another win in Summer League, this time taking down the Boston Celtics. Overall, it was the Hawks 5th straight win in Summer League.
What are the biggest takeaways from today’s game?
1. Kobe Johnson Continues to Impress
Kobe Johnson has been impressive all Summer long and is making his case to be the last two-way contract for the Hawks. Atlanta already has Keshon Gilbert and RayJ Dennis in two of the two-way spots for next season and are looking for a third player who they can continue to develop.
With the Hawks being very shorthanded today against the Celtics, Johnson stepped up and played very well. In 13 first half minutes, Johnson scored 19 points on 7-10 shooting and 3-4 from three-point range, which is the most encouraging part of his performance. He continued that into the second half and was arguably the best player on the floor today for the Hawks.
Johnson finished today’s game with 30 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
Johnson has high-level defensive skills, but he has shown offensive growth over the course of the past week and he is making a real case to be a part of the roster as a two-way player.
2. Henri Veesaar takes advantage of his opportunity
With so many bigs out today, it was going to be the Henri Veesaar show for Atlanta.
He did not disappoint. Veesaar was able to score 20 points on 7-12 shooting (4-6 from three), as well as pulling in four rebounds, and three assists.
As a scorer, Veesaar was at his best today, stretching the floor and scoring the ball off the pick and roll. He showed why the Hawks moved up to take him in the second round of the draft and if he can continue this development into the season, perhaps he can be closer to playing than initially thought.
3. Hawks win short-handed
Atlanta has one of the most talented rosters in Vegas this summer and despite missing their two first round picks from this year’s draft (Flemings and Ejiofor) and their first round pick from last year’s draft (Newell), Atlanta did not have much of a problem today with Boston.
The Celtics were missing a couple of important players today as well, but the Hawks had no trouble in this game, nearly leading by 30 points in the second half. The three-point shooting was strong, the defense forced turnovers, and they kept the Celtics cool from three.
It was an impressive all-around victory for the Hawks and one of their better victories from start to finish.
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