Can Olympic Torch Ignite Atlanta Reconstruction?
First a quixotic pipe dream, then an exhilarating but distant reality, the 1996 Summer Olympic Games have suddenly become a juggernaut transforming the look and feel of Atlanta. But as the pieces come together for the $1.6 billion Olympiad, the largest extravaganza any American city has ever staged, it remains unclear whether the games will produce anything resembling the inner-city revitalization that many here envisioned when Atlanta was awarded the games four years ago. The approval last week of a $50 million, 60-acre Centennial Park that will be the heart of a 100-acre public space for the games is only the most recent sign that fund raising and construction are largely on track for the games’ scheduled opening on July 19, 1996. The Atlanta Olympics are expected to draw 2 million people, generate $5 billion in economic activity and be twice the size of the 1984 games in Los Angeles. “We’ve divided the pie, we’ve made virtually all the deals, and you can already feel the anticipatio
