Monday, May 11, 2015

Centennial Olympic Park visit observations

On May 8, 2015 I visited Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. I had previously visited the park in March 1998, Sept. 2001, 2005, Nov. 2011 and May 2013. Over the past several visits I noticed the slow aging of my brick and several sections of bricks in the park. Last week I was able to speak to a park employee. This park employee had been there 12 years. He said that the bricks were not supposed to be life lasting and that my $35 contribution was to build the park. He had concern that the bricks were aging and that if enough bricks could not be read the park could take action to replace the bricks, but it was unlikely. There is significant wear on some bricks like mine but others were in much better shape. I thought the weather played a part but in my opinion, that is not the case. The park is heavily used for concerts and events. My brick is in section 54 light bricks, which is near the fountains in the main part of the park. Some 54 light bricks are in much better condition than mine. I also noticed some cracked areas where numbering was along the grass in certain areas of the park. The park does replace those. They were replacing the grass when I visited last week.
When people purchase commemorative bricks it usually means a lifetime. In 5-10 years at this rate most bricks wont be readable. The park needs to replace the most worn ones soon. My brick will not be readable in 5 years. If Centennial Olympic Park does not slow the aging process I will take action to save my brick. In my opinion, it is the reason lots of people visit the park. Please don't let the bricks become unreadable. Some already are.

Update: On May 22, 2015 I scrubbed my brick and rinsed it off. Actually I cleaned about 9 bricks total but only could really rinse mine. Looks a lot better! The engraving is in better shape than I thought. Also that day a family from New York was visiting the park and was trying to find their brick. I was talking to them. They had not ever seen their brick. After a few minutes they found it, It was readable but dirty. Another reason for the park to power wash the bricks.

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