CNN Center - History

History

The CNN Center opened in 1976 as the Omni Hotel, which was a development by Cousins Properties Inc. as that was unsuccessful until CNN moved its headquarters there in 1987 from its Midtown Atlanta site (old home of the Progressive Club on 1050 Techwood Drive and home to Turner Broadcasting System). The facility originally offered office space to various business tenants, as well as consulates over the years. The main floor featured an indoor ice skating rink, as well as a small number of restaurants and a Gold Mine video arcade. More famously, Sid and Marty Krofft built an indoor amusement park called The World of Sid and Marty Krofft, inspired by the creations of the popular children's television producers. The park was the first indoor theme park and opened in 1976, it closed within six months. The complex also featured a multi-screen movie theater. For years, the theater offered showings of Gone with the Wind, Ted Turner's favorite movie. The theater was replaced during renovations to put in a new newsroom for CNN's website operations. The ice skating rink was filled in and a mosaic map of the world replaced it (featuring brass markers indicating the locations of CNN bureaus around the world). When CNN networks moved in in 1987, CNN Headline News (now known as HLN) was the first network to broadcast a show from it at 3.00 ET with its program # 96,115. Their sister channel started live programming at 6.00 ET of that day.

On March 14, 2008, a EF-2 tornado passed through downtown Atlanta, damaging the CNN Center and leaving water and dust in the upper floors. The ceiling of the atrium was also damaged, causing water to pour in and partially flood the food court. CNN's library was damaged, although it is unknown at the moment how much of its archives were damaged. Numerous injuries and widespread damage were reported overall. The Omni Hotel, attached to the CNN Center, was evacuated as a precaution, and more than 400 rooms had to be emptied of occupancy for two weeks.