Former names | Classic Center Arena (2022–2024) |
---|---|
Address | 300 N Thomas Street |
Location | Athens, Georgia, U.S. |
Coordinates | 33°57′40.1″N83°22′14.9″W / 33.961139°N 83.370806°W |
Public transit | Athens Transit at Athens Multimodal Transportation Center |
Owner | Unified Government of Athens Clarke County |
Operator | Classic Center Authority |
Capacity | 8,500 (in the round concerts) 7,000 (end-stage concerts) 5,500 (hockey) |
Construction | |
Broke ground | April 28, 2022 |
Opened | December 13, 2024 |
Construction cost | $146 million |
Architect | Perkins&Will and Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart |
Project manager | Impact Construction Management |
General contractor | J. E. Dunn Construction Group |
Tenants | |
UGA Ice Dawgs (2024–present) Athens Rock Lobsters (FPHL) (2024–present) | |
Website | |
Venue Website |
Akins Ford Arena is an indoor arena in Athens, Georgia. [1] [2] It is part of the Classic Center complex and is intended as an upgrade to the Classic Center Grand Ballroom, which had been configured as a 2,000-seat arena. It will become the new home of the UGA Ice Dawgs of the College Hockey South conference and on March 28, 2024, it was announced it would be home to an FPHL expansion team, [3] later named the Athens Rock Lobsters. It has a capacity of 8,500. It is owned by the Unified Government of Athens Clarke County.
In January 2019, the Classic Center Authority announced their intent to construct the new Classic Center Arena adjacent to the existing site. [4] The arena will be connected to the existing Classic Center, the Multimodal Transportation Center and the downtown district via a new elevated walkway.
On August 20, 2024, it was announced that Akins Ford, of Winder, Georgia, had purchased the arena's naming rights for an undisclosed period and sum. [5]
Oglethorpe County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,825. The county seat is Lexington.
Watkinsville is the largest city and county seat of Oconee County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 2,896. It served as the seat of Clarke County until 1872 when the county seat of that county was moved to Athens, a move which ultimately led to the creation of Oconee County in 1875. It is included in the Athens-Clarke County, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about 70 miles (110 km) northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an R1 research institution, is in Athens and contributed to its initial growth. In 1991, after a vote the preceding year, the original City of Athens abandoned its charter to form a unified government with Clarke County, referred to jointly as Athens–Clarke County where it is the county seat.
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The Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league with teams in the Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern United States. The FPHL began operations in November 2010 as the Federal Hockey League. Don Kirnan is the league's commissioner. The league also occasionally branded itself as the Federal Professional Hockey League from 2015 to 2018 until it began using the name Federal Prospects Hockey League and completing the rebrand in 2019.
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The Classic Center is a convention center in Athens, Georgia, United States. It was opened in 1995. Located within is Akins Ford Arena at The Classic Center, a large event hall that also serves as a 2,000-seat arena. The arena is home to the UGA Ice Dawgs hockey team and formerly the Peach State Cats arena football team. The Classic Center also contains a 2,122-seat theatre.
The Peach State Cats are a professional indoor football team based in Suwanee, Georgia. They originally announced to play home games at Dalton Convention Center in Dalton, Georgia, for the 2018 season but were eventually made a travel-only team. They moved to Classic Center in Athens, Georgia, the following season.
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