The Clayton County Convocation Center & College and Career Academy, on the site of a former Sears store, is expected to start hosting events in November. Clayton County Public Schools raised $55 million for the 8,000-seat venue in Morrow, an Atlanta suburb.. The remaining costs came from numerous sources, including the Delta Air Lines Foundation. MEJA Construction is the project’s general contractor. An event management group has not yet been hired.

The arena is off Interstate 75 and is adjacent to the existing city-owned Morrow Event Center, which boasts an exhibition hall with space for up to 30,000 people and a 300-seat ballroom. A new Holiday Inn Express has just opened nearby.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that the school district is in conversations with Clayton State University to hold a basketball tournament at the new arena and is looking to persuade the Georgia High School Association to bring an upcoming state wrestling tournament there. The ultimate goal is to host the state championships in basketball and cheerleading.