New athletic director J Batt has a major change in the works for the football game-day experience at Georgia Tech.
Batt’s plan is to move the pregame activities that take place on and near Callaway Plaza on the north end of Bobby Dodd Stadium to the south end of the stadium along North Avenue.
“We’re going to begin a transition of our football game-day experience to North Avenue,” Batt said at the quarterly meeting of the Georgia Tech Athletic Association board Thursday. “This plan still has several details to iron out and permitting processes to complete, but conceptually, all of the activities that have traditionally been activated on Callaway Plaza – that’s team entrance, the Wreck coming down Yellow Jacket Alley, the band – that’ll be moved to North Avenue.”
Batt’s larger plan is to have a portion of North Avenue blocked off from traffic to create what he called “a really dense area of marketing, game-day activations, tailgating” in that area. The athletic department will work with partners such as the alumni association to have tailgating and other events in that area. The aforementioned “activations” include music, food trucks and fan-experience activities that also will involve the athletic department’s corporate partners.
“We really want to have the North Avenue corridor be the front door of our athletics game-day experience,” Batt said.
At the meeting, Tech President Ángel Cabrera shared his excitement over the change, saying “it’s going to be very exciting” and offering a vision of pregame activities taking place against the backdrop of the iconic Tech Tower.
It will significantly change at least two traditions that have become beloved elements of the experience of Tech home games for many fans – Yellow Jacket Alley (the team’s walk down Brittain Drive to the stadium) and the pregame marching-band concert on the steps of Callaway Plaza. The former has been in place at least since the tenure of former coach George O’Leary (1994-2001) and the latter since 2003.
The majority of the parking and tailgate spaces for Tech home games are on the north side of the stadium, making Callaway Plaza the logical venue for pregame festivities for fans as they make their way to their seats. Those fans may not find it worth the time and effort to venture to the other side of the stadium to take part.
However, besides Batt’s plans to make North Avenue “the front door,” the shift also anticipates another change that likely will render Callaway Plaza unavailable for the 2024 season – the planned renovation project of the Edge Center that borders the plaza along Bobby Dodd Way.
With Tech’s athletic headquarters prepping for a makeover, and the football team already having started one, Batt will attempt progress and improvement in another manner most visible (and possibly meaningful) to his ticket-buying constituency.
Having pregame festivities on the North Avenue side of the stadium will make participation easier for Yellow Jackets fans who park and tailgate near the stadium’s south end and also for fans arriving via MARTA’s North Avenue station. With the five-lane street (including the turn lane) blocked off, there should be ample space for fans to congregate. In years past, activities at “Wreckfest” at or near Callaway Plaza have included inflatables, face painting and music. The greenspace in front of Tech Tower will also be a natural place for fans to gather before kickoff.
Said Batt, “We’re excited.”
