The rise of Georgia State (now Georgia's largest university) and the growth of its campus has been making an impact on the southeast side of downtown for years. Now on the heels of April's announcement that GSU athletics are making the leap to the Sunbelt Conference and Division I, the school's Sports Communications Department has released an ambitious master plan that would bring several new athletics venues to the downtown area. These are a long way off, mind you- the school has to acquire land first. But the momentum would appear to be there to get these done. City boosters should be salivating prospect of having Atlanta's Midtown/Downtown area bracketed by vibrant universities with D1 sports programs. Could this presage the true end of downtown's becoming a ghost town after 6pm (albeit strewn with a few tourists)?
· Georgia State Athletics Master Plan [Georgia State Sports official site]