Macon Bibb County and project partners preview new 10,000-seat Macon arena ahead of July 29 groundbreaking

Macon Bibb County and the arena's project team previewed the new Macon arena and confirmed a groundbreaking scheduled for Wednesday, July 29, during a Making It podcast episode. Speakers said the facility will seat about 10,000 people with a 12,000-person capacity when adjacent overflow space is used.

"The groundbreaking of the new Macon Arena is happening this week, actually, tomorrow as you're listening to this, Wednesday, July 29," a Making It host said on the show. David Aiello, district general manager for Oak View Group (OVG), said, "It's gonna be a lot of fun over the next 2 years watching this come out of the ground." The episode framed the project as both a preservation of local memories and a step toward attracting larger events.

Project partners said the new arena will be located near City Hall and that the existing Coliseum will remain open while construction proceeds. The team described partners and roles: MFA Project Management as the owner's representative and project manager, OVG as the arena operator, and design teams including PBK and consultants such as Kimley-Horn for traffic studies. Hosts said the team plans public events around the design reveal and the groundbreaking.

Officials asked residents to expect about two years of construction and changes to on-site parking and pedestrian access during that time. The podcast closed with a reminder that the groundbreaking would begin the formal construction phase and that the team plans to keep the older Coliseum operational until the new arena opens.