Client: JE Dunn Construction
Location: Athens, GA
Year: 2025

Socium Coatings delivered the complete painting and specialty coatings scope for the Akins Ford Arena (formerly the Classic Center Arena), a 192,000-square-foot multi-use venue in Athens, Georgia. The facility serves as the home of the Athens Rock Lobsters hockey team and is designed to host a wide range of events, including concerts, sporting events, family shows, conferences, and live performances.

Our scope included all interior and exterior painting and coatings, sealed concrete floors, caulking, digital wallcovering, and electrostatic finishes. These finishes support both the durability requirements of a high-traffic entertainment venue and the visual standards expected for a modern, fan-focused arena.

The arena is now fully operational, welcoming up to 8,500 guests and offering versatile layouts to support events ranging from banquets and conferences to ice hockey games and live entertainment. The facility features a professional ice surface, flexible staging capabilities, and a dedicated seven-truck loading dock designed to improve event load-in efficiency and overall production operations.

This large and complex project required strong coordination and disciplined execution. Socium’s field execution team delivered outstanding leadership in managing the scope, schedule, and quality across the facility. The project also builds on Socium Coatings’ long-standing relationship with JE Dunn Construction, a trusted and consistent general contractor partner in the Atlanta market for more than a decade.