Atlanta Civic Center
Encyclopedia
Theater (structure)
A theater or theatre is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed or other performances such as musical concerts may be produced. While a theater is not required for performance , a theater serves to define the performance and audience spaces...
located in the SoNo
SoNo (Atlanta)
SoNo is an urban sub-district of Downtown Atlanta, Georgia, part of Midtown. Much of the area originally consisted of slum areas such as Buttermilk Bottom, which were razed for urban redevelopment projects in the 1960s...
district of Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
located on Piedmont Avenue Northeast. The theater, which seats 4,600, regularly hosts touring productions of Broadway musicals, concerts, seminars, comedy acts, and high school graduations. In addition to performances, the civic center
Civic center
A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building...
can host conferences and exhibit
Exhibit
Exhibit may refer to:*Exhibit , evidence in physical form brought before the court.*Demonstrative evidence is a term used to describe exhibits and other physical forms of evidence used in court to demonstrate, show, depict, inform or teach relevant information to the viewer.*Exhibit , a lightweight...
s as well, with 5,800 square feet (540 m²) of meeting space. The Civic Center is owned and operated by the Atlanta city government’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, but brings in enough revenue to be self-supporting .
The Civic Center was built in 1967 on the site of Ripley Street and part of Currier Street in the Buttermilk Bottom
Buttermilk Bottom
Buttermilk Bottom, also known as Buttermilk Bottoms or Black Bottom, was an African-American neighborhood in central Atlanta, centered around the area where the Civic Center now stands in the Old Fourth Ward side of in the SoNo area. It was considered a slum area, having unpaved streets and no...
slum. It was originally built as the city's convention center
Convention center
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees...
, a role now largely filled by the state-run Georgia World Congress Center
Georgia World Congress Center
The Georgia World Congress Center or GWCC is the major convention center in Atlanta. It is the fourth-largest convention center in the United States at 3.9 million ft2 and hosts more than a million visitors each year. At the time opened in 1976 the Georgia World Congress Center was the first state...
. The Civic Center served as the site for the 1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
cultural program.
In 2000, it hosted the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions
Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions
The Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions is an annual tournament featuring the longest-running champions from the past season or seasons of the TV quiz show Jeopardy! The tournament began in the show's first season in 1964 during Art Fleming's tenure as host, and continued into the Alex Trebek era of...
with Georgian Robin Carroll winning.
The Atlanta Civic Center underwent a $2 million renovation in 2001 and added "Boisfeuillet Jones" to its name in honor of Atlanta businessman and philanthropist Boisfeuillet Jones. In 2003, the Civic Center became the host for the Atlanta Opera.
The back parking lot was where the 99x stage was located during the Music Midtown
Music Midtown
Music Midtown was a large music festival held in Atlanta, Georgia from 1994 to 2005. It is once again resurrected for 2011.The festival ran on one weekend each year from 1994 to 2005. The event drew in excess of 300,000 attendees per year during its peak years. Music Midtown started as a two-day...
Festival. During the 2002 festival, Turner South
Turner South
Turner South was an American cable television network launched on October 1, 1999 by Turner Broadcasting System as the first regional entertainment network developed especially for viewers in the southern United States...
hosted an indoor televised concert.
On July 22, 2005 it hosted President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
when he spoke to an invitation-only crowd about changes in Medicare. He was introduced by Governor Sonny Perdue
Sonny Perdue
George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III, was the 81st Governor of Georgia. Upon his inauguration in January 2003, he became the first Republican governor of Georgia since Benjamin F. Conley served during Reconstruction in the 1870s....
and also accompanied by his mother Barbara Bush
Barbara Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and of the 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush...
and U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss
Saxby Chambliss
Clarence Saxby Chambliss, Jr. is the senior United States Senator from Georgia. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a U.S. Representative ....
and Johnny Isakson
Johnny Isakson
John Hardy "Johnny" Isakson is the junior United States Senator from Georgia and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he represented in the House....
.
In May 2007 it was revealed that the city was considering demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
of the facility, in addition to the neighboring SciTrek
SciTrek
The Science & Technology Museum of Atlanta, usually known as SciTrek, was located at 395 Piedmont Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia, next to the Atlanta Civic Center. It was forced to close in August 2004 due to reduced federal and state funding, as well as poor fundraising results, but hoped to reopen...
, replacing them with a new performing arts center
Performing arts center
Performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is used to refer to* A multi-use performance space that is intended for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre....
. SciTrek
SciTrek
The Science & Technology Museum of Atlanta, usually known as SciTrek, was located at 395 Piedmont Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia, next to the Atlanta Civic Center. It was forced to close in August 2004 due to reduced federal and state funding, as well as poor fundraising results, but hoped to reopen...
did close but the Civic Center is still in operation.
In 2008, the Peachtree Road Race
Peachtree Road Race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race 10K is a 10 kilometer road race held annually in Atlanta, Georgia on July 4, Independence Day. The Peachtree Road Race was until recently the world's largest 10 kilometer race , a title it has held since the late 1970s...
stage and finish festival were moved here when Piedmont Park was deemed off-limits because of drought conditions. On October 18th, 2008 the Center hosted the 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards
BET Hip Hop Awards
The BET Hip Hop Awards are an annual awards show, airing on BET, showcasing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors. The awards ceremony began in 2006, was held on November 12, 2006 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, was first aired November 15 and was hosted by comedian Katt...
. Soon the museum will be temporarily showing Egyptian treasures especially King Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...
.
In April 2011, in honor of the Atlanta Georgia Temple
Atlanta Georgia Temple
The Atlanta Georgia Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the first temple built by the church in the Southeastern United States and the second temple east of the Mississippi River since 1846...
rededication, over 2,000 youth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints performed in a youth cultural celebration entitled "Southern Lights". Church President Thomas S. Monson
Thomas S. Monson
Thomas Spencer Monson is an American religious leader and author, and the 16th and current President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . As president, Monson is considered by adherents of the religion to be a "prophet, seer, and revelator" of God's will on earth...
and his Apostle (Latter Day Saints) were in attendance.
On May 7, 2011, It was mentioned that Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
, for the 2011–2012 season, will start production at the Atlanta Civic Center, where host Steve Harvey
Steve Harvey
Broderick Steven "Steve" Harvey is an American actor, comedian, entertainer, television and radio personality and best-selling author. He is best known as the star of the WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, and as one of the four comedians featured in the Spike Lee film The Original Kings of Comedy...
lives and hosts his radio show
The Steve Harvey Morning Show
The Steve Harvey Morning Show is a nationally-syndicated radio program, featuring host Steve Harvey and a team of comedians and commentators.-Broadcast history:...
.