ATLANTA — Atlanta Track Club wants to build the city’s first dedicated indoor track and field facility at Cheney Stadium, a $100 million proposal that would put a year-round training and community center on Olympic-adjacent ground in Summerhill.
According to FOX 5 Atlanta reporting, the plan calls for roughly 175,000 square feet with a 200-meter hydraulic competition oval, a STEM center for students, a health and wellness center, and flexible community space. Olympians trained at Cheney ahead of the 1996 Summer Games; gold medalist Gail Devers is among the athletes historically tied to the site.
Why Cheney, and why now
Atlanta hosts one of the world’s largest 10Ks each July 4 and a deep road-racing culture, but it has lacked a true indoor track hub even as other U.S. metros invested in winter training. Local runners quoted by FOX 5 called that gap hard to justify given the city’s Olympic history.
Atlanta Track Club CEO Rich Kenah, in remarks carried by FOX 5, framed the project as a year-round place for youth, high school and college athletes and neighborhood residents to train safely. Devers backed the Cheney location in the same coverage, arguing the site’s legacy makes it the right home if the building rises.
The club says it wants to start construction within about 18 months and finish by the end of 2029 — a timeline that depends on land agreements, design, fundraising and permitting rather than a locked groundbreaking date.
Money and ownership
FOX 5 reported that Atlanta Track Club intends to fund the center through private donations, tax credits and commercial marketing partnerships without relying on city general-fund cash. The nonprofit would operate the finished facility.
Cheney Stadium sits on land owned by Atlanta Public Schools. As of the FOX 5 account, APS had not issued a final public approval of the proposal. That school-system decision is the clearest near-term gate after community feedback.
Organizers are holding public meetings to collect neighborhood input. The next session cited in the report is Aug. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at King Middle School. Summerhill residents have seen multiple waves of stadium-adjacent development since the Braves left town and Georgia State and private partners reshaped the footprint; an indoor track is a different use mix than housing or retail, which is why the club is running a feedback process before designs harden.
What it could mean for Atlanta running
If built as described, the center would give high school programs a weather-proof competition venue, give elite and sub-elite athletes a winter home without leaving Georgia, and give Summerhill a programmed recreation anchor. It would also extend Atlanta Track Club’s footprint beyond race production into permanent infrastructure — a shift other major running nonprofits have made in peer cities.
None of that is guaranteed. Private capital stacks for specialty sports buildings can slip. School-board and neighborhood conditions can reshape the program. Until APS and the club publish a formal term sheet, the $100 million figure and 2029 finish date remain proposal targets, not contracts.
For now, the public next step is straightforward: show up at the August community meeting, read whatever site plans the club posts, and watch for an APS agenda item. Atlanta has the running culture to fill an indoor track. Whether Summerhill gets one depends on the next year of agreements more than on Tuesday’s headlines.
