An expansion project designed to modernize Georgia Tech’s historic football stadium and potentially help recruiting is officially under construction.
At a Monday evening ceremony, Georgia Tech officials broke ground on the Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center, a project designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative that’s being constructed by DPR Construction, both Atlanta-based companies.
The building is named for Tech alumnus Dr. Thomas A. Fanning, a booster who holds three degrees from the institute and was considered a visionary in the energy industry during a 43-year career with the Southern Company.
Fanning attended Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony alongside Georgia Tech president Ángel Cabrera, director of athletics J Batt, and football head coach Brent Key.
How the Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center's lobby is expected to look and function in two years. Courtesy of The S/L/A/M Collaborative/Georgia Tech
Expansion plans for the northeast corner of the stadium. Courtesy of The S/L/A/M Collaborative/Georgia Tech
The 100,000-square-foot expansion is happening at the northeast corner of the century-old stadium—now called Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field—in hopes of boosting Tech’s football program and other athletic teams. It will rise in the footprint of the former Edge/Rice Center, Tech’s concrete-built athletics headquarters, with a modified, more traditional design versus what was initially envisioned three years ago.
The performance center will house areas for athlete strength and conditioning, sports medicine, nutrition, academic support, and Tech athletics’ Total Person Program. Other facets will include expanded space specifically for Georgia Tech football, to include a football-only players’ lounge, meeting spaces, and strength-and-conditioning facilities. The upgrades are expected to boost Tech recruiting, project officials have said.
Another component will be premium seating offered to Ramblin’ Wreck football fans and people attending other big events held at the stadium.
The Fanning Center will also be equipped with Tech’s first sports science lab, which uses pro-model motion tracking to analyze student-athletes’ performance data.
Plans for the new dining area—with Bobby Dodd field views. Courtesy of The S/L/A/M Collaborative/Georgia Tech
End-zone view from the field of the new Fanning Center. Courtesy of The S/L/A/M Collaborative/Georgia Tech
According to SLAM reps, the building process will use energy-reduction strategies. Steel from Bobby Dodd Stadium’s existing infrastructure will be woven into the expansion project, where cross-laminated timber will also be used throughout to add warmth and reduce the project’s carbon footprint.
Construction is expected to coincide with normal operations at the stadium, which originally opened as a smaller facility in 1913.
Project officials say The Fanning Center is scheduled to open on a daily basis for student-athletes in spring 2026.
The almost Brutalist appearance of the northeast section of historic Bobby Dodd Stadium on Georgia Tech's campus today. Google Maps
Future look of Bobby Dodd Stadium's northeast corner where Techwood Drive meets Bobby Dodd Way. Courtesy of The S/L/A/M Collaborative/Georgia Tech
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