By Valerie Baldowski
vbaldowski@henryherald.com

Henry County has a new concert venue.
The Gateway Event Center opens today with a concert performance by Sammy Kershaw, and special guest David Nail.
The facility is located at 165 Mill Road, near the Jonesboro Road exit off Interstate 75, near McDonough.
Upcoming performances include John Michael Montgomery on Nov. 28, and Natalie Grant’s “A Christmas To Believe In” on Dec. 3. Additionally, an oldies show featuring The Association and Rare Earth is scheduled for Dec. 12.
The Gateway Event Center is housed in warehouse building. According to the center’s CEO, Mike Styles, preparations for opening the facility were months in the making.
“We first starting looking at the building, and ideas, back in March,” said Styles. “It wasn’t until the beginning of August when we first decided to go ahead and really start making this happen.”
Styles’ company, North Atlanta Trade Center, is based in Norcross. He said he and his team chose McDonough for the venue because of its potential.
“It’s one of the fastest-growing cities in Georgia,” said Styles. “It’s beautiful out here [and] it’s a great location between Macon and Atlanta. There’s not a lot for people to do out here. There’s nothing of this caliber.”
The center offers two levels for entertainment, he said. The main floor boasts 40,000 square feet, and the total seating capacity is close to 4,700. The second floor is reserved, he said, for the “VIP area,” which can accommodate almost 200 guests.
When guests feel like dancing to the music during performances, Styles said there is plenty of room. “What we’re very proud of here, is that we have what we look at as the largest dance floor in the Southeast,” he continued.
Friday, workers were adjusting the seating in front of the stage, testing the lighting and audio systems, constructing sections of the VIP area, and stocking the bar with cups, napkins and straws.
Kelly Grimwalde, director of food and beverage for the center, said venue will benefit southside residents by bringing entertainment closer to home.
“Gateway will greatly improve the quality of life by bringing new entertainment options to Henry County,” she said. “It will benefit the local economy by providing new jobs as well as new tax revenue.”
From a musical standpoint, Grimwalde continued, the event center will offer all types of music for all musical tastes.
“We will be able to give people one location with a wide variety of musical genres, as in Christian pop, classic rock, country, oldies and contemporary,” said Grimwalde. “This will become a central point of family entertainment for Henry County and all surrounding counties.”
Once the public learns of the center, Styles said the facility has the potential for a positive impact on the local economy.
“We’ll try to do one to two shows a week,” he said. “We feel that with the amount of people that will be coming in and seeing the shows, we can have up to an average of 2,500 to 4,000 people a day. It will bring a lot to the community, and we think all the neighboring businesses will do really well.”
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On the net:
Gateway Event Center: www.gatewayeventcenter.com