Neighborhood petition calls for landmark Olympic Cauldron to stay put

A new grassroots petition has gathered nearly 1,000 signatures in a quest to thwart Georgia State University’s plans to relocate a landmark relic of Atlanta’s 1996 Olympic Games. 

GSU officials announced last week they plan to move the Olympic Cauldron—the top section of the 120-foot tower and bridge structure over Hank Aaron Drive in Summerhill, where Muhammad Ali famously lit the torch in 1996—across downtown to Centennial Olympic Park. 

Summerhill neighbors feel that doing so would rip away an integral part of the area’s history and identity. 

A Change.org petition started as part of a “Save Our Torch” campaign had gathered 946 signatures as of this writing. A “peaceful rally” is also scheduled at the torch site for 6 p.m. this evening, according to organizers.

GSU’s announcement Thursday gave no indication when the torch could be moved to downtown’s signature park. University officials did vow to “work to enhance the remaining [tower and bridge] structure to celebrate the deeply intertwined legacies of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, Georgia State, and the Summerhill community.” 

Like the Summerhill stadium originally built for the Olympics, GSU owns the cauldron and other Olympics infrastructure in the neighborhood. 

The Summerhill petition calls for all of the relocation efforts to be suspended—and for stakeholders advocating for the move to sit down with community leaders and residents for a meeting. All decisions regarding the cauldron’s relocation made by GSU, Georgia World Congress Center, and University System of Georgia representatives have been made behind closed doors so far, community leaders have said. 

“Summerhill found out after the fact,” reads the petition, “despite having clearly stated its opposition and asking to be a part of any future discussions when a similar covert effort was attempted in 2024-2025.” 

The chairman of Atlanta '96 Legacy, Billy Payne, has been working with GSU to accomplish the cauldron’s relocation. 

In a statement, Payne said his group is “very excited about the prominent location where the Olympic Cauldron will be displayed in Centennial Olympic Park, combining the elements of the most iconic moment of the Centennial Games with its greatest physical legacy.” The remaining infrastructure in Summerhill, meanwhile, will “act as an unofficial gateway to the neighborhood and Georgia State’s continued expansion,” per Payne.

The Save Our Torch campaign points to Summerhill’s founding in 1865 by freed people and subsequent fights again displacement via stadium, highway, and Olympics-related construction. 

“Summerhill has given enough,” the petition reads. “We will not give up our history quietly.”

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