Georgia Dome site to become park after demolition

A rendering of the 13-acre Home Depot Backyard, a park that will be constructed on a portion of the site currently occupied by the Georgia Dome.

A rendering of the 13-acre Home Depot Backyard, a park that will be constructed on a portion of the site currently occupied by the Georgia Dome.

Vine City and English Avenue residents will soon be able to visit a new local park in the area now occupied by the Georgia Dome.

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Officials with The Home Depot and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the new home of the Atlanta Falcons, on Friday announced the creation of Home Depot Backyard, a 13-acre park that will be replace a portion of the Dome after it is demolished later this year. Update: Georgia Dome imploded with one small hitch

This will be a space “where we celebrate, whether it be culture, whether it be music, whether it be food, whether it be arts,” said Falcons owner and Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank at a press conference unveiling the plans.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank hugs Kasim Reed after the Atlanta mayor gave him a warm introduction at the Friday press conference announcing Home Depot Backyard.

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“When we are in touch with each other physically and humanly, we are at our very best,” Blank said.

A new park dubbed Home Depot Backyard will be created from the demolition of the Georgia Dome.

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The Dome, which opened in 1992, is being replaced by the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium under construction just across the street.

In addition to the park, which will open in 2018, the Georgia World Congress Center Authority plans to build an 800-to-1,000 room hotel on the Dome site.

Others participating in the announcement included Home Depot CEO Craig Menear, GWCCA Chairman David Allman and Frank Fernandez, vice president of community development for The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.

“This stadium is being done differently than any other stadium in the United States of America in terms of the way it is embracing the community,” Reed said.