GAINESVILLE – Robyn Lynch, Director of Gainesville’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, appeared before the Gainesville City Council Thursday morning to update the council on news connected to plans announced this summer by the Lake Lanier Olympic Park Foundation to raise and invest $1.5-million in improvements at the site of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.
“Within three months they (the Foundation) have raised almost $900,000,” Lynch said proudly.
The Northeast Georgia Health System made a 10-year commitment to help fund the pavilion.
The City of Gainesville took over sole ownership of the facility July 1, 2019. It is the only remaining Olympic facility from the 1996 Centennial Games that is still being used for its original purpose.
According to documents provided by the Foundation, the donation from Northeast Georgia Health System will be dedicated to the construction of a lakeside plaza pavilion, one of four projects specified by the Foundation in its August announcement.
Those same documents state that $2-million has already been invested in the park by the Foundation with plans to invest another $17-million over the next several years. Included in those investments are a one-mile walking trail with wellness components along the trail, additional courtesy docks for community use, adding various forms of public art to the nearly 36-acres that comprise the park complex, and a complete renovation of the boathouse facility.
Final details on the design of the pavilion are still being determined by the Foundation and NGHS. Construction of the pavilion should be completed during 2022. “We’ll be able to increase the number of events we have year round,” Lynch said.
“With that and the new boathouse, that’s going to be a happening place,” Mayor Danny Dunagan added.
The city council will formally authorize execution of a donation agreement for the Lake Lanier Olympic Park Plaza Pavilion at its voting session on Tuesday.
