April 15

Build it and they will come.

Atlanta Stadium was the city’s field of dreams, the brainchild of Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr., who promised in his 1961 mayoral campaign to bring major league sports to Atlanta. With financial support from C&S Bank president Mills B. Lane, Jr., they chose a 62-acre site that had been a neighborhood. In February 1964, the city lured the Braves from Milwaukee and the “concrete donut,” as critics called it, was completed in April 1965 for $18 million.

The NFL awarded Atlanta an expansion football team as well, and the Baves began play on schedule in 1966. There were bad games, but there were other milestones as well: the Beatles concert in ‘65, Hank Aaron’s home run record, the Braves World Series championship, and Olympic baseball. The stadium was demolished in 1997 and the site is now a Turner Field parking lot.

Groundbreaking on the stadium that made Atlanta a major league city took place on April 15, 1964, Today in Georgia History.