SMYRNA, Ga. — With no Peach Drop this year, much of Atlanta is looking elsewhere for New Year’s Eve entertainment.
One destination that is likely to benefit is just outside the perimeter in Cobb County – at a place that has gotten adept at relocating Atlanta entertainment customers and their hard earned dollars.
There won’t be a Peach Drop at the Battery Atlanta, but there will be fireworks and festivities and just maybe the echo of a political ball fumbled in Atlanta this year – and another dropped 6 years ago.
The fiberglass peach that was central to Atlanta new year celebrations was, on this New Year’s Eve, a mere backdrop for selfies in a mostly closed Fulton County government building in downtown Atlanta.
“I guess you should have a better use for it than sitting here, eh?” asked Ingolf Abisgold, who was taking a photo in front of the peach with his family Tuesday.
Atlanta canceled this year’s Peach Drop, a decision that perplexed civic leaders like Robb Pitts, who offered it as an indoor photo op.
“The peach is here. There is no drop, but it’s here,” he apologetically told reporters Monday at the Fulton government center, where the giant peach hangs in the atrium.
If this peach represents a ball dropped in Atlanta – it’s getting picked up a few miles up the road in Cobb County. That’s where the Battery Atlanta expects a raucous new year celebration that should include a hearty measure of déjà vu.
Think back to 2013, when Atlanta’s Turner Field unexpectedly lost its flagship tenant – after the Atlanta Braves had been unable or unwilling to make a deal to stay in the city. Like some of this year’s New Year’s revelers, the Braves moved on to Cobb County – which built the team’s stadium alongside the Battery.
State Rep. Eric Allen (D-Vinings) said Cobb County’s Battery stands to gain from the Peach Drop void.
“It’s probably one of the best fireworks shows in the southeast for New Year’s. A lot of energy, lot of live music. I think it’s definitely gaining in momentum,” Allen said.
RELATED: Where is the Peach Drop this year?
The irony is that the former Turner Field property, now owned by Georgia State University, is the centerpiece of the kind of neighborhood development that Braves had sought downtown – new homes under construction, new restaurants and businesses already open nearby – minus the Atlanta baseball team.
Losing the Braves was a black eye for Atlanta. Robb Pitts thinks the Peach Drop can be salvaged for next year.
“It’s grown through the years and it’s important,” Pitts said. “It’s going to be something bigger and better in the future.”
Pitts thinks the Peach Drop will return next year with help from Atlanta’s business community. Rep. Allen thinks there’s room for both new year’s celebrations – maybe next year.
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