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Thursday, November 10, 2005
Aquarium block named for Coke inventor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Who was John S. Pemberton? If Coca-Cola has its way, Atlantans soon will be able to answer that question without hesitation.
On May 8, 1886, Pemberton — a pharmacist at Jacob’s Pharmacy at Five Points — mixed the original formula for a Coke.
But Pemberton did not live to see the success of his invention. He sold an average of nine Cokes a day. Plagued with financial and medical problems, Pemberton sold the rights to the formula in 1887, and he died the following year.
As a way to recognize Pemberton’s contribution to Coca-Cola, CEO Neville Isdell on Wednesday declared that the 20-acre site that will include the Georgia Aquarium and the new World of Coke be named Pemberton Place.
The naming of the block also helps reinforce the recent contribution the company has made to downtown. Coca-Cola donated 9 acres to the Georgia Aquarium.
“We just thought it was appropriate to go back to what, for us, was day one,” Isdell said. “What we are trying to do at the new World of Coke is modernize and leverage off our heritage.”
Georgia Aquarium benefactor Bernie Marcus, who started his career as a pharmacist, credited Coca-Cola for helping make the aquarium a reality. The aquarium will open in a couple of weeks, and the new World of Coke is now scheduled to be finished by May 2007.
