Georgia State University has announced a major Downtown Atlanta campus transformation plan thanks to an $80 million gift from the Woodruff Foundation.
GSU President M. Brian Blake said the institution was challenged to remake the campus as a beacon for further revitalization for Downtown ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
“We were confronted with an opportunity to dream a dream,” Blake said in a news release. “We were asked, ‘What could you do in two years?’”
The “unprecedented” $80 million gift from the Woodruff Foundation is the largest in GSU’s history and the largest that the foundation has given to any institution in the University System of Georgia.
Blake said GSU will embark on nine projects aimed at refashioning the Downtown Atlanta campus with a strategic plan of “Identity, Placemaking and Belonging.” Plans include creating an enlarged “Panther Quad,” which will close off a section of Gilmer Street to vehicle traffic to create a greenspace, an area for food trucks, cafés, and study and relaxation areas.
By connecting existing Hurt Park and the Greenway, the quad will become the heart of the campus, helping to realize what Blake calls a “college town Downtown.”
“I believe this is likely to be one of the most transformational projects carried out by an institution that the state has ever seen,” Blake said. “These projects will have a profound impact on our ability to recruit and retain students.”
Blake has also been meeting with other Downtown stakeholders about updating GSU’s master plan.
The master plan includes enlarging the popular Greenway – which has become a favorite student gathering spot – from one acre to 15 acres by replacing Sparks Hall with a grassy expanse of amphitheater seating that will connect to Gilmer Street and Hurt Park.
It also calls for expanding the Arts and Humanities Building by adding a new glass façade and adding street-level retail to the former United Way building at 100 Edgewood Ave.
Another major component of the updated master plan is improving Woodruff Park, a key node connecting the campus with the Fairlie-Poplar District.
“The current design of the park really lends itself to clusters, rather than leveraging the fullness of the park,” GSU Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer L. Jared Abramson said in the release.
GSU plans to add more lighting and branded signage to the area, as well as street art and plants. The plans also call for moving the Atlanta Streetcar stop a few meters south to make the entrance to the park more open and inviting.
“The idea is to create this very comfortable walk between our 25 Park Place Plaza and the Aderhold Building, to make Woodruff Park a true community space that’s even more open and welcoming to students,” Abramson said.
Read more about the plan and see more renderings here.
Atlanta Preservation Center Executive Director David Y. Mitchell said the $80 million gift to GSU was a great opportunity, but hoped the university would consider preserving some of the historic spaces.
“The announcement of $80 million to create a ‘college town/Downtown’ for Georgia State University is a welcome gift and opportunity. We also hope that it will be able to support the value of preserving and protecting 148 Edgewood Avenue, the Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Company Plant, also known as Baptist Student Center, and to explore options other than demolition of Sparks Hall.”