The Omni
| "The Omni" | |
 The Omni in 1978
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| Location | 100 Techwood Drive Atlanta, Georgia 30303 United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°45′27″N 84°23′48″W / 33.75750°N 84.39667°WCoordinates: 33°45′27″N 84°23′48″W / 33.75750°N 84.39667°W |
| Owner | City of Atlanta |
| Operator | City of Atlanta |
| Capacity |
Basketball: 16,181 (1972–1977), 16,400 (1977–1984), 16,522 (1984–1987), 16,451 (1987–1988), 16,371 (1988–1990), 16,390 (1990–1991), 16,425 (1991–1992), 16,441 (1992–1993), 16,368 (1993–1994), 16,378 (1994–1997) Hockey: 15,078 (1972–1973), 15,141 (1973–1977), 15,155 (1977–1983), 15,278 (1984–1997) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | March 30, 1971 |
| Opened | October 14, 1972 |
| Closed | May 11, 1997 |
| Demolished | July 26, 1997 |
| Construction cost |
$17 million ($97.3 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect | Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates |
| Structural engineer | Prybylowski and Gravino, Inc. |
| Services engineer | Lazensky & Borum, Inc. |
| General contractor | Ira H. Hardin Company |
| Tenants | |
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Atlanta Hawks (NBA) (1972–1997) Atlanta Flames (NHL) (1972–1980) Atlanta Chiefs (NASL Indoor) (1979–1981) Atlanta Attack (AISA/NPSL) (1989–1991) Atlanta Knights (IHL) (1992–1996) Atlanta Fire Ants (RHI) (1994) |
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Omni Coliseum (often called The Omni) was an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for hockey. It was part of the Omni Complex, now known as the CNN Center.
It was mainly used as the home arena for the Atlanta Hawks (NBA) and the Atlanta Flames (NHL). It also hosted the 1977 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and the 1996 Summer Olympics indoor volleyball.
The arena was considered an architectural marvel that combined innovative roof, seating, and structural designs. The logo is based on the unique seating arrangement. The exterior was made of Cor-Ten weathering steel, which was supposed to seal itself by continuing to rust, making a solid steel structure that would last for decades. The Omni was noted for its distinctive space frame roof, often joked about as looking like an egg crate or a rusty waffle iron. Designed by the firm of tvsdesign with structural engineering work by the firm of Prybylowski and Gravino, the roof was technically described as an ortho-quad truss system.
The only remaining part of the Omni is the scoreboard that hangs in the pavilion of the Philips Arena. American Sign and Indicator built the basketball-specific scoreboard in the early 1990s to replace the original hockey-specific scoreboard that Daktronics maintained during the 1980s. The arena also had four message boards on each end zone, two of which were animation boards.
The Omni was a hotbed for professional wrestling. It was considered the home base for the NWA's Georgia Championship Wrestling since its opening, Jim Crockett Promotions in the late 1980s, and WCW. Many major and historic wrestling events tool place at the Omni, including Starrcade 85, Starrcade 86, Starrcade 89, the first Wargames match during the Great American Bash in 1987, and many other pay-per-view shows. The WWE also held many shows at the Omni when they were known as the WWF.
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