Omni Complex (1976-1987) Atlanta The building now occupied by the CNN Center opened in 1976 as the Omni Complex, a development by Cousins Properties. The Omni Coliseum, an NBA and...
Omni Complex (1976-1987) Atlanta The building now occupied by the CNN Center opened in 1976 as the Omni Complex, a development by Cousins Properties. The Omni Coliseum, an NBA and NHL arena directly connected to the Omni Complex, had opened three years earlier, on October 14, 1972. The Omni Complex office building was largely vacant until CNN moved its headquarters there in 1987 from its Midtown Atlanta site (old home of the Progressive Club on 1050 Techwood Drive and home to Turner Broadcasting System). Over the years, the building had provided office space to various business tenants, as well as foreign consulates. The main floor featured an indoor ice skating rink, as well as a small number of restaurants and a Gold Mine video arcade. Sid and Marty Krofft built an indoor amusement park called The World of Sid and Marty Krofft, inspired by the creations of these popular children‘s television producers. Opened in 1976, this park was the first indoor theme park in the United States, but it closed within six months. The complex also featured a multi-screen movie theater. For years, the theater offered showings of the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, which Ted Turner called „The greatest movie ever made“.
During renovations to install a new newsroom for CNN‘s website operations, the movie theater was replaced. The ice skating rink was filled in and replaced by a mosaic map of the world (the map featured brass markers indicating the locations of CNN bureaus around the world). Prior to moving to the new location, CNN and Headline News were based in a former country club on Techwood Drive in Midtown Atlanta. They shared the facility with WTBS. Since the late 20th century, this facility has served as the campus for nearly all other Turner networks and Turner Studios. During the 1990s, the mansion facade was used as the logo for Turner‘s theatrical and home video arms.