Georgia Tech’s plans for a complete renovation of the Edge Athletics Center may go forward. The University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents authorized the $82 million project at its monthly board meeting Wednesday at Albany State, giving the institute the go-ahead to begin the overhaul of Tech’s athletics headquarters.
The renovation was the centerpiece of athletic director Todd Stansbury’s $125 million capital campaign, dubbed “Athletics Initiative 2020.” Located at the northeast corner of Bobby Dodd Stadium and opened in 1982, the Edge Center will be demolished (along with a portion of the stadium’s north stands) with a new structure built in its place.
“We couldn’t be more grateful and excited that the Board of Regents of USG has approved proceeding with our new student-athlete performance-center project,” Stansbury said in a statement. “The student-athlete performance center is the crown jewel of our Athletics Initiative 2020 fundraising efforts and will be a transformative facility for Tech athletics, as it will allow us to recruit and develop Everyday Champions that will represent Georgia Tech at the highest level athletically and academically.”
Stansbury has pitched the renovation project and the campaign as a whole as being critical for the on-field success of Jackets teams, telling the Tech athletic association board in 2018 (at the time the campaign was unveiled) that “resources equate to wins. There’s no way around it.”
The approval comes while Tech’s two most visible teams, football and men’s basketball, are coming off seasons in which they were among the least competitive in the ACC, with records of 3-9 and 12-20, respectively.
The agenda for the board meeting included details of the four-story center, which will house athletic department units that most directly impact athletes daily. The structure, expected to fill 115,000 square feet, includes two weight rooms, a dining hall, a nutrition station, offices for academic support and the Total Person Program and a sports medicine clinic. It also will expand space for the football team, including a strength-and-conditioning area, a players’ lounge and meeting spaces.
A sports-medicine clinic that would serve the public also is under consideration, according to the agenda. It also is expected to be a place where fans and passersby can visit, and also will overlook the stadium and include premium seating.
With the focus of the building changing, athletics staff displaced by the renovation will establish additional office space in the Wardlaw Center (the building at the south end of the stadium) and an annex to McCamish Pavilion.
An artist’s rendering depicts an exterior heavy on glass and a building filled with natural light, a change from the building’s present look, which former athletic director Mike Bobinski once likened to CIA headquarters.
“We talk about athletics being the front porch of a university or an institution,” Stansbury told the Tech athletics board in 2018. “Well, this building is our front porch, and so we feel that this is the kind of linchpin of what we’re going to look like for the next 20 years.”
Funding had been in place for more than a year before Wednesday’s approval. Donors made gifts and commitments of more than $84 million for the renovation project at the time the three-year campaign wrapped up in March 2021, well in excess of the $70 million objective. The campaign itself raised $175.4 million in gifts and commitments, far surpassing the $125 million goal.
With approval of the project, the department will begin the final design process. There is no set timeline, but the renovation schedule will seek to minimize disruption to department operations, particularly during the football season. It’s possible it could begin shortly after the end of the 2022 season. A news release from Tech on Tuesday said the expected completion date is 2025.
About the Author
