1996-Olympics on WACN 21 News

Summerhill rallies to keep Atlanta's 1996 Olympic cauldron in the neighborhood

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 06:05:00 -0400

Summerhill residents and business owners are organizing Sunday to oppose a plan to relocate Atlanta’s 1996 Olympic cauldron from the neighborhood to Centennial Olympic Park, arguing that the monument is inseparable from the place it has marked for three decades.

The rally is scheduled for 1 to 2 p.m. Sunday, July 19, at the Summerhill Neighborhood Development Corporation House. Organizers have also circulated an online petition that had collected nearly 2,000 signatures by Sunday morning, according to Atlanta News First.

Olympic marble: rare 1996 Atlanta Olympic torch to be displayed at Truist Park during All-Star Game

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 15:30:00 -0400

The iconic torch from the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics will be on display in the Truist Park concourse during MLB All-Star week, marking 30 years since Atlanta hosted the Games.

The torch, which was lit at Centennial Olympic Park on July 19, 1996, and burned through the closing ceremony on August 4, will be on loan from the Atlanta History Center for the duration of All-Star festivities.

“This is a fitting way to honor the legacy of the 1996 Games and the city that has been synonymous with baseball for more than 150 years,” said Atlanta History Center president Sheffield Hale. “Atlanta is a sports town, and this torch belongs here this week.”

Atlanta History Center opens new Olympic Games photography exhibition

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:00:00 -0400

The Atlanta History Center on Wednesday opened a new photography exhibition featuring 75 rarely seen images from the 1996 Summer Olympics.

The exhibition, “Atlanta ‘96: A Summer Remembered,” runs through October 31 in the center’s DuBose Family Gallery. Many of the photographs were taken by AJC photographers and have never been publicly displayed.

“This was the moment Atlanta announced itself to the world,” said Atlanta History Center president Sheffield Hale. “We wanted to capture the joy, the spectacle, and the resilience of that summer.”