James May-June 2025 web - Flipbook - Page 37
veryone in Georgia knows
Athens. Many people have
been there, at least on a
Saturday in the fall. But
not many people who take
in the football or other University of
Georgia athletic events get to see
what The Classic City is like beyond
campus or beyond downtown. Yet for
some 130,000 people who call it home,
it is much more than that. Georgia’s
sixth-largest city enjoys a thriving
economy, beautiful parks and is now
home to the state’s newest professional
sports venue, Akins Ford Arena— home
of the Athens Rock Lobsters (a nod
to a song from the Athens-born band
the B-52’s), the playoff-bound hockey
team in the Federal Prospects Hockey
League. Besides hockey, the arena
is also a music venue typified by the
Avett Brothers coming in September.
A vibrant nightlife
Katie Williams is the
executive director of the Athens Convention and Visitors
Bureau, as well as the vice
president of sales, marketing
and tourism for the Classic
Center— the city’s sprawling convention facility. For Williams and those
who work in Athens development, that
relationship to the university is unique.
For many of UGA’s peer schools, the
University of Florida or Alabama or
Ole Miss, those respective cities of
Gainesville, Tuscaloosa and Oxford are
wonderful places to visit. Without the
university there, though, their raison
d’etre would be gone. Athens has a full
existence outside of the university. As
Williams puts it, “Athens is not connected to the university, but enriched
by the university.”
“I don’t know if our town would be
what it is without the university, but I
also don’t think the university would
be what it is without Athens,” Williams
emphasizes. “It’s because Athens is a
great town for so many other reasons.
It’s got rich music history and great
food and beverage scene. It’s home
to five breweries, including Creature
Comforts which is the state’s largest
craft brewer. And you know, now it’s
home to one of the state’s premier
entertainment venues with the Akins
Ford Arena, which houses the Georgia Music collection.”
Athens also has the Terrapin Beer
Company since 2002, which helped to
put the city on the beer map. In 2016,
Terrapin was acquired by Molson Coors, ending Terrapin’s run as Georgia’s
largest craft brewery. A few years ago,
Visit Athens created the Athens Beer
Trail, which gave incentives around
touring the five breweries.
In addition to tasting craft brews,
Athens offers a vibrant nightlife, making it a prime location for conventions
and meetings. The Classic Center does
over 700 events a year, with an average attendance of 1,000 people. The
center is a huge driver of economic
impact in the community, generating
over $90 million in economic impact
due to conventions, conferences and
community events.
“What better town to promote
tourism than the Classic City,
because when you’re a graduate,
you have a nostalgic view of
Athens, and for me, it was a
dream opportunity,” said Williams. “As I got into the job,
I learned more about who
we are as a community
M AY/J UNE 2025
37
