Macon Arena construction opens questions for GHSA basketball finals venue

The Georgia High School Association is meeting regularly with Macon city officials to ensure the Macon Coliseum will be fit to stage the state basketball finals during two-year construction of the Macon Arena which will be located in the current Coliseum’s parking lot.

The city will break ground this summer on the new arena, a larger, more versatile venue that will seat 8,500 and contain club suites, loge boxes and other amenities that can better attract sporting events, trade shows, concerts and sports teams.

The Macon Arena will be built adjacent to the current arena, which sits off Interstate 16 northeast of downtown. The Coliseum’s parking lot contains 2,300 paved spaces, according to its website.

GHSA executive director Tim Scott said Tuesday the GHSA has met three or four times with city officials and plans to get another update within a month on how construction might affect fans and teams participating in the basketball finals in March of 2027 and 2028.

“We certainly know that there will be some construction going on, and in anything we do, safety is a primary concern,” Scott said. “We want to know where we would park and how far fans would have to walk, whether there would be a shuttle provided. Until we get a chance to talk with them, we don’t know. They’ll share the plan with us. I’m not sure how we’ll feel after we see it, but we’re hoping it works out.’’

State finals have been played entirely or partially at the Macon Coliseum for all but one year since 1969, a year after it was built.

The finals were moved in 2017 after an embarrassing 2016 incident regarding the basketball goals. It was not confirmed until the third and final day of finals that the baskets were set up about a foot closer to the baseline than regulation.