Demolition Begins on Emory Sports Medicine Complex

BROOKHAVEN, Ga. – Earlier this month, the Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club and Emory Healthcare began demolition on the future site of the Emory Sports Medicine Complex, less than two months after breaking ground on the project.

The 90,000-square-foot training and sports medicine center will serve as the Atlanta Hawks’ official practice site and house its basketball operations as well as house Emory Healthcare’s entire sports-medicine division. The Hawks’ new practice facility will be the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) first to be located within a sports medicine center, which will give athletes the ability to have the immediate treatment and on-site access to high-tech medical equipment such as the 3 Tesla MRI scanner, which gives fast diagnoses for soft tissue and bone bruise injuries, according to a statement.

Nationally based HOK is serving as the architect on the project, while Birmingham, Ala.-headquartered Brasfield & Gorrie General Contractors is serving as the construction manager. Atlanta-based construction and management firm H.J. Russell & Company, in association with Legends Project Development, is serving as the project management team on the project. They’re considering using robotic demolition to lessen the amount of noise in the surrounding areas. Everyone is hoping that the project will bear fruit shortly.

“By blending research, sports medicine, health care, and training into one building, the Atlanta Hawks and Emory Healthcare will change the way the industry approaches athletic training and injury prevention,” said George Heinlein, a regional director of HOK’s Sports + Recreation + Entertainment practice, in a statement. “We have brought together HOK’s multidisciplinary leaders in health care, science and technology and sports facility design to elevate the training experience and create a new model for professional and collegiate athletics.”

The training and sports medicine center will integrate four facilities on its five-acre campus. Emory Healthcare Courts will serve as the Hawks’ new practice and training facility, with two full-length basketball courts that have direct access to expanded athletic-performance training areas, a film room and a fully dedicated recovery area that features cryotherapy, sensory deprivation tanks and in-ground hydrotherapy.

Emory’s entire sports-medicine division will be moved to the Emory Sports Medicine Center and Emory Physical Therapy sections of the complex. These will feature advanced technology in preventative and rehabilitative treatment and sports performance training. In addition to the 3 Tesla MRI scanner, they will have diagnostic imaging technology, recovery technology, 3-D motion capture analysis and blood or sweat testing and analysis available on site. Emory doctors will conduct patient visits at the facility and will host events to engage the local community.

Peak Performance Project (P3), a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based leader in applied sports science, will also house its Atlanta branch within the complex. P3 aids elite-level athletes from around the word and uses sports science to assess athlete movement and performance to create individual optimization plans. Serving as P3’s East Coast headquarters, this will be P3’s first location outside of Santa Barbara.

The Emory Sports Medicine Complex is scheduled for completion by fall 2017 before the 2017-18 basketball season begins.