ACOG's chief executive, Billy Payne, conceived the park both as a central gathering location for visitors and spectators during the Olympics and as a lasting legacy for the city.

Landscape Architect EDAW, with the joint construction team of Beers/Russell, were selected to design and build the park by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority.

Security at the park and at all sporting venues was subsequently raised to include bag searches and metal detectors at all entrances.

[4][5] On July 16, 2016, the park held events commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 1996 Olympics and Paralympics, including a volunteer reunion, concessions, and a fireworks show.

[6][7][8] On May 29, 2020, Centennial Olympic Park was the scene of the start of what was supposed to be a peaceful protest in respect of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota four days earlier.

The protest route was supposed to head to the capital and return to the park, but it was stopped at the CNN Center by the Atlanta Police Department.

Andrew Young International Boulevard, named for the former Atlanta mayor and United Nations ambassador, runs through the southern portion of the park.

It consists of 251 jets that shoot 12 to 35 feet (3.7 to 10.7 m) in the air, and also creates a water sculpture that is essentially the front yard of the nearby museum.

The fountain area is surrounded by flags representing the host countries of each Summer Olympics preceding the 1996 games and eight 65-foot-tall (20 m) light towers reminiscent of classical Greek marker columns.

[13] There are several pieces of sculpture scattered through the park, including Gateway of Dreams, a monument honoring Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic movement.