The CTR (Former CNN Center): From newsroom to urban playground
Finding myself and the city’s future at "The Center"
Finding myself and the city’s future at “The Center”
In the simmering heat of July 1996, clutching a notebook and a headful of ambition as I drove down I-85 from Asheville, North Carolina, to Atlanta to be a writer and filmmaker. My uncle and I had moved to Decatur for a new beginning, and I chased my dreams of being the next John Singleton, Spike Lee, John Hughes, or Alexander Dumas through the crowded streets. My days revolved around school, work and writing, but my true sanctuary became Centennial Olympic Park. I’d sneak in after school, before or after shifts, or sometimes just over the weekends to get lost in the breeze and the buzz of international visitors arriving for the Olympics.
Directly across from the park standing proud and gleaming with energy was the CNN Center. For me, it was more than just a food court teeming with Olympic fans. As I got older with a child of my own, and making regular visits to Cenntenial Park and CNN Center with him. Both locations nearly became an everyday thing that was normal thing in our lives. As he grew older I couldn’t enter CNN Center without him and an employee of the facility: security, maintanence or CNN news staff asking where he was. Asking where was my “little brother” not knowing what they thought was my little brother was actually my son. The Center, as it is now being rebranded as, was my anchor: the place I’d grab a quick bite, watch a movie in the internal movie theater, write a few new lines of a story in the food court, and watch the world swirl by. When the crowd’s noise grew overwhelming or my thoughts got tangled, I’d step outside and let the fountains of Centennial Park clear my head.
That routine held steady for years. Whether working at Macy’s on Peachtree, at the “All Wind Up” toy store at Underground Atlanta, before and after Braves games while working at Turner Field, or later now as an adult and office at Peachtree Center, I always measured the city’s heartbeat by my walks between The Center and the park. The round trip, the plaza, the crowds, the sense that anything was possible in the heart of Atlanta marked my coming of age.
But the years weren’t always kind to this part of town. I watched as downtown lost some of its luster: street vendors moved on, foot traffic thinned, even the once-proud CNN Center started to seem more like a memory than a destination.
Now, though, something incredible is happening. The Center, that same building where I once nursed juices and scribbled ideas, isn’t just getting a new name. It’s being reborn as the bold centerpiece of Atlanta’s resurgence. The food court where I spent my lunch breaks is set to become a world-class food hall, while the soaring atrium will be filled with art and public spaces designed to welcome the dreamers and wanderers of a new generation. Massive digital displays are lighting up the night sky, attracting visitors like moths to a flame and declaring, “Atlanta’s back.”
The new owners, CP Partners, a Florida based company has reimagnined building as a mixed used facility equiped with the following:
- A dramatic food hall, inspired by Ponce City Market, serving everything from local bites to international flavors.
- Nearly 130,000 sq ft of retail, 920,000 sq ft for creative offices and media production, and vibrant public art in collaboration with SCAD.
- New “arrival experiences,” engaging plazas, and a digital “ATL” sculpture replacing the iconic CNN signage.
- Three colossal, 12-story LED signs set to light up downtown nights.
This reimagined hub isn’t just for conference-goers or soccer fans. It is crafted as a connective artery linking the city’s storied past and bold future.
And The Center isn’t standing alone. Just steps away, where rust and rails once sprawled underfoot, the Gulch is rising as Centennial Yards, a mini-city of hotels, apartments, and entertainment venues, pulsing with the promise of life 24/7. The SkyView Ferris Wheel, another favorite landmark, spins slow circles over downtown, its lights reflecting off the dreams and ambition below. Mercedes-Benz Stadium now commands the skyline, and the Georgia World Congress Center draws crowds from all over the world making the area buzz with the energy I remember from my first Atlanta summer.
Sometimes, I revisit those old haunts with a familiar sense of comfort and awe. The Center, once where I caught my breath and imagined my future, is becoming the heart of Atlanta’s own reimagining. As the city prepares for the World Cup and a new era of possibility, I see my own story in its transformation, a place, and a person, always evolving, always ready for the next chapter.
In Atlanta, and especially at The Center, both the city and I have learned: sometimes you have to weather seasons of change before you can shine bright again. And right here, in the place where it all began, the future is lighting up—bolder and brighter than ever.
For the past 30 years, I’ve been devoted to Downtown Atlanta, unable to imagine loving any other place. Now, with the arrival of our new Center, I find myself excited to fall in love all over again with one of the very spots that first captured my heart and made me fall in love with Downtown Atlanta.
