Centennial Olympic Park Re-Visioned

Carlos F. Perez served as the Project Manager and Landscape Architect for the Re-visioning of Centennial Olympic Park while working with AECOM. As the Park approached its 20th Anniversary, Downtown Atlanta Stakeholders were contemplating ways to further improve and update the role that Centennial Olympic Park plays in Downtown Atlanta and the metropolitan region. Many believed it could be more: more of a local destination for Atlanta residents, more of a place of respite for local workers, and more of a self-sustaining economic engine to help it cater to the public in perpetuity. The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) and Centennial Olympic Park Management Staff hired a Team managed by Carlos Perez to complete the revisioning for the space.

The Team began the project by completing an existing conditions and use analysis to identify the areas within the space that were being used versus the areas in that space that were not as popular. Next, the Project Team completed a user analysis that looked at the different users within a 5-minute walk and 5-minute drive from the park. From this analysis, the Team developed a profile of the various and diverse users around the park and identified the times and potential activities that these users would most likely seek or participate in. The results from this analysis were compared with the findings from an on-line survey developed by the Team that was disseminated to over 25,000 residents around the Atlanta Region. Lastly, the Team completed a visioning workshop with Park Management and Park Staff to review the findings from the existing conditions analysis and the public engagement process and develop a conceptual master plan for the park. The conceptual master plan identified five projects for the GWCC and Centennial Olympic Park Management Staff to move forward on in preparation for the Park’s 20th Anniversary. The GWCC completed a $45 Million Capital Campaign to fund five key projects. Perez Planning + Design was on the design team that recently completed the design and construction documentation for the projects.