Pinewood Studios construction continues apace

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Work on the Pinewood Atlanta Studios facility on Veterans Parkway continues to transform what was pasture land into Fayetteville and Fayette County’s largest-ever economic development project. The latest improvements to the property are easily evidenced by the view offered from Sandy Creek Road.

The newest additions to the property can be seen from the studio entrance across from the former Rivers Elementary School. Construction is underway on a 20,000 square-foot production office building that is being attached to the soundstage building nearest the studio entrance.

The other new addition to the site is the second 45,000 sq. ft. workshop building situated north of the soundstages. The workshop will house office and production spaces, a 5,000 sq. ft. screening room and edit bays, project representatives said in October.

A bit further to the north is the concrete pad on which a 45,000 sq. ft. Home Depot store will be located. As noted in previous comments by project representatives, the Home Depot will be utilized specifically for projects being filmed at the studio and will not be open to the general public.

The exterior work on the Phase 1 soundstages was completed in recent months. Those include two 30,000 sq. ft. soundstage buildings, each of which house two 15,000 sq. ft. stages, and a 40,000 sq. ft. soundstage building.

Work along the perimeter of the property has also progressed in recent days and weeks. Many of the sculpted berms along Veterans Parkway and Sandy Creek Road have been installed and grassed. Aside from providing an aesthetic quality to the road frontage along the 288-acre property, they also function to obstruct the view of the 65-foot soundstage buildings.

Also new is the installation of a wooden rail fence situated between the berms and the roadway. The choice of fencing material is reminiscent of the type of fencing used on area pasture land in days past.

The 288-acre Pinewood Atlanta Studios property is situated along Veterans Parkway and Sandy Creek Road and is part of 1,200 acres recently annexed into Fayetteville.

The studio is expected to be operational in January, in time for the first production to get underway.

Though the name of the film has not been announced, studio vice president of operations Brian Cooper said in September the movie will be considered a “tent pole” feature, in reference to what moviegoers usually call a blockbuster, that will be a $150-200 million production.