Projects that never got off the drawing board Public toilet From futuristic people movers and dramatic architecture to public toilets, the Olympics have given ideas that may never By Lyle V. Harris STAFF WRITER lympic dreamers are a 0 special Atlanta Visionaries breed: could who become hoped a modern-day Oz of graceful pedestrian bridges, towering space needles and sleek people movers zipping across the skyline. But with roughly 200 days to go before the Games, many of those dreamers are being jolted from their reverie by a painful pinch of reality and finding out that waking up is hard to do. Many of the projects they proposed were doomed from the start, usually by a lack of money or common sense. But nearly all of them were infused with an enthusiasm that was hard, but hardly impossible, to resist. Susan Bronston, the city's Olympic projects coordinator, has responded to many of the dreamers with letters that say, politely of course, "Thanks, but no thanks.' "We usually try to refer them to the appropriate agency, or to someone who could help further their idea," Bronston said. "We've even had people come in to sing their songs or show us their videotapes. We've tried not to be discouraging." At ACOG, Sherman Day is in charge of Olympic legacies, as : GeoNova Dome / Pedestrian 1 I E birth to dozens of reach fruition. well as being the unofficial keeper of unsolicited proposals. It is a job he performs with grim seriousness. "There are a lot of people out there with a lot of ideas," Day said, refusing to discuss them in detail because he fears lawsuits. "People put a lot of thought and effort into these things thinking they would enhance the Games, so I don't consider any of them frivolous or whimsical." Reluctant to give specifics, Day recalls an intriguing art project with one tiny drawback: It needed five acres of land. "The sculpture was funded, but what they didn't have was the five acres," he said. "We weren't in a position to help them." Another project that got a courteous thumbs down from ACOG was a suggestion to build a humongous carillon with 600 bells. Then there was Tom Cox, a local marketing executive whose Olympic epiphany was a 45-foot tall, $4.5 million fountain he called the Atlanta Olympic Centennial Memorial. The circular fountain featured several disembodied arms rising from the water, their hands grasping a huge torch. Each limb represented famous Atlanta figures such as Henry Grady, Asa Candler and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. With the diligence of a door- GREY BLACKWELL / Staff just couldn't make it happen.' THE OLYMPIC WISH LIST But the mother of all Olympic pipe dreams wasn't in Atlanta at Some hoped- for projects are Olympic road kill while others are all. Douglas County officials had clinging to life on the list of post possibilities: been keeping their fingers clinging to life on the list of post possibilities: been keeping their fingers R.I.P. crossed for a privately financed Disney-style "Gone With the Omni-to-Underground bridge: A suspended walkway 18 feet Wind" theme park in Villa Rica. wide and 80 feet above the Spring Street viaduct. Plans for the $50 million, Olympic carillon: A structure with 600 bells. 300-acre attraction were being Plaza '96: Honoring Olympic athletes at Piedmont Park. developed by the Centennial House : A temporary facility for Olympic VIPs. California-based Landmark Olympic wall: A monument to Olympic achievement. Entertainment Group. Atlanta Tower: A 720-foot space needle with observation decks. Wes Tallon, the county's director of engineering, said he STILL BREATHING got the bad news that the park Public toilets: Coin-operated restrooms in pedestrian corridors. was postponed two months ago, 318-room hotel near Centennial "The developer said he Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza: a it be Park. wanted to a quality Olympic development, and he didn't want GeoNova Dome: A 200-foot tall, EPCOT-like structure with theto rush things," said Tallon. aters and restaurants that could display video images on its exterior. "Everyone was hoping that it 9 MagLev trains: High speed shuttles that would ferry passengers to would be opened by the the Olympic stadium from the Georgia State MARTA station. Olympics, but his reasoning Gone With the Wind Park: Disneyesque theme park based on makes sense. He said he would" Margaret Mitchell's book. do it later, but I don't know when." 0 After the Games, many proposals will be lost forever in to-door salesman, Cox shopped the advantage of well-heeled the ash heap of Atlanta's history. his fountain-sculpture for backers, shameless self- For now, at least, some are months, eventually winning the promoters or civic do-gooders waiting on the back burner. support of Mayor Bill Campbell. simply ran out of time. "I haven't given up yet," said But still no takers. For city planning John G. Aldridge, a lawyer F• "Of course I'm disappointed, commissioner Leon Eplan, the whose dreams of building a $70 but I'm not giving up on it," said failure to bring public pay toilets million Olympic museum have • Cox, adding that he had the to city streets before the Games been put on hold. "It's premature perfect spot for it in Centennial has left him discouraged. to say it will ever be considered," Olympic Park. "All I'm doing is "We did everything we but the good news is that all the putting it to bed for a later time." could," Eplan said, his shoulders planning has been done, so when Even some proposals that had slumped in disappointment. "We the time comes, we'll be ready. LOM
