Georgia Tech athletics holds ceremony at Fanning Center

“I am incredibly excited. The work that GT athletics does for the institute cannot be exaggerated. They’re our best ambassadors,” Cabrera told a small crowd who attended the ceremony. “They bring the community together. They carry the brand and the name of Georgia Tech to absolutely ever corner, not just of this the country, but the world as we saw this (last) year.

“Georgia Tech athletics, the coaches, the staff, the student-athletes, are doing the job. They’re representing the institute everywhere they go. It’s only fair that we do our part to support. This is not just an incredible resource for student-athletes, this is a place where student-athletes are gonna grow and learn. It’s also a pretty awesome recruiting tool.”

Tech broke ground on the building, located in the northeast corner of Bobby Dodd Stadium at the corner of Techwood Drive and Bobby Dodd Way, in March 2024. The center was approved by the Georgia Board of Regents in 2022.

It was named for alumnus Fanning, who remarked Friday, “One of the things that is emblematized behind me is the notion that Georgia Tech is committed to making every day better than yesterday and tomorrow even better than today. I am unbelievably proud. This is the highest honor I have ever achieved in my life, to be associated with, to be a part of the help to make this a reality.”

The 100,000 square-foot facility which will house offices and meeting spaces and a player’s lounge for the football program, as well as a strength-and-conditioning space, a dining hall, nutrition rooms, sports-science and data-analytics areas and sports-medicine and recovery rooms. It will stand where the Edge Center previously was located.

“This building will be critical to our success in the new future of college athletics,” said Tech chief operating officer Jon Palumbo, speaking on behalf of Batt who was in Greensboro, North Carolina, for the ACC women’s basketball tournament. “As we look ahead, we recognize that world-class facilities like this are vital to our continued success and ability to compete at the highest level of college athletics. We’re in an era of unprecedented change, but this building shows our continued focus on our student-athletes in the midst of that change.”