Atlanta

The 5 million-gallon Georgia Aquarium, to be among the largest in the nation, is scheduled to open this fall. It will contain more than 50,000 freshwater and saltwater fish and mammals. A banquet room overlooking the aquarium will seat 1,200 for dinner. The aquarium will bring in an estimated 2 million visitors in its first year of operation.

The first phase of the $2 billion Atlantic Station project is scheduled for its opening this spring in Midtown. It will include 12 million square feet of space, as well as 11 acres of parks. The development is divided into three areas. The District will include one million square feet of retail, entertainment, office, apartment and town home space.

The Commons will be residential properties on a two-acre lake. The Tech Village will offer large retail locations surrounded by neighborhood shops, office space and loft apartments. The development will also feature a 26-story hotel and condo high-rise called Twelve, scheduled to open this fall.

The Centers for Disease Control is building a $62 million visitors center highlighting the history of the CDC. Visitors will learn about the CDCs work around the world by observing a working laboratory where researchers handle the world's most dangerous pathogens, a 100-foot screen showing films of major CDC programs and more than 60 interactive exhibits. The center will open this year. The Atlanta History Center has begun construction on a new 20,000- square-foot wing dedicated to memorializing the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.

The $10 million addition will be a highly interactive three-level museum and is expected to open in 2006 to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Atlanta Games. The facility will occupy 7,500 square feet and offer an exploration of Atlantas Olympic legacy - how the Games came to take place here and changed the city. World of Coca-Cola will be moving from its Underground Atlanta site to the new area beside the Georgia Aquarium. Expected to open in 2007, the new 75,000-square-foot attraction will house more than 35,000-squarefeet of exhibit space.

The Cobb Galleria Centre is developing a multipurpose performing arts center that will open in 2007. The first phase of the facility calls for a 2,750- seat theater, 10,000 square feet of meeting space and a five-level parking facility. Full-service food and beverage capabilities, rehearsal rooms, a café and a gift shop are additional features of the development. The design will be avant-garde and will feature a pedestrian- friendly entry park with green space, walking paths, botanical gardens, plazas and water features. Future phases of the project include plans for a 700-seat recital hall and 200-seat black box teaching theater.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will break ground on a new facility in 2005. The $240 million new home of the symphony will be on 6.2 acres at Peachtree and 14th streets. Plans call for an 836,000-square-foot office building with ground-level retail and a Symphony Center with 2,000 seats in the main hall and 350 seats in the chamber hall. Symphony officials chose Santiago Calatrava to design the new facility slated to open in 2009.

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