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Virtual
Tour of Athens Landmarks
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Classic
Center The Classic Center is Athens-Clarke County's premier convention and meeting facility. Located in and anchoring the eastern edge of downtown Athens, the facility has hosted everything from Broadway musicals to performances by Bob Dylan. It contains 50,000 square feet of flexible meeting and exhibit space, as well as a 2,100 seat performing arts theatre. Additionally, the Center also holds the offices for the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). The Classic Center was completed in April 1996 as one of 17 projects funded by a 1987 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). Area citizens had direct input into the design and mission of the facility and have since supported it tremendously. The Center today operates as self-supporting while hosting events that make an economic impact on the community. In fiscal year 2002, the facility hosted 575 events with a total attendance of 350,000 people. It translated these numbers into an economic impact in Athens of more than $7 million and helped raise more than $129,000 for charities. In 2000, the Classic Center was selected as the fourth in a series of holiday ornaments celebrating landmarks in Athens-Clarke County. The ornament is on sale for $10.00 at the Athens Welcome Center (280 East Dougherty Street, 706-353-1820). A project currently underway behind the Classic Center is the construction of a new parking deck and covered pedestrian walkway / automobile bridge as one of the SPLOST 2000 Projects. It is designed to be completed in the fall of 2002. Read more about this project. For detailed information about the Classic Center's facilities and its calendar of upcoming events, visit the Classic Center website at www.classiccenter.com. |
