ATLANTA – The brick plaza outside of the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre today was dedicated to Rachel and Earl Smith.

Mr. Smith is a current member and former Chairman of the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum & Exhibit Hall Authority, former Chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners and Chairman Emeritus and namesake of Friends of the Earl Smith Strand Theatre. Mr. and Mrs. Smith married in 1953 and together they founded E. Smith Heating and Air Conditioning in 1962.

“You both have given so generously to Cobb County,” said Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon, vice-chairman of the Authority and keynote speaker at the dedication. The expansion of the Cobb Galleria Centre, construction of the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and creation of the ArtsBridge Foundation are all attributable to the leadership of Mr. Smith, Bacon said.

E. Smith Heating and Air, located in Marietta, continues to flourish fifty years later, and Mrs. Smith works in the office daily. Mr. Smith was named Marietta Daily Journal Citizen of the Year in 2001. He has been involved in the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce, Boys & Girls Club of Cobb County and Cobb Lions Club – eventually serving each as president and serving as Chamber Chairman in 2000. He served as President of North Metro Technical College and was an appointee of Governor Sonny Perdue to the Board of the Technical College System of Georgia.

In 1984 Mr. Smith was elected Chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners and served on the board of the Cobb Zoning and Planning Commission. Smith played a role in creating Cobb County’s first comprehensive land use plan; Cobb County’s public transportation system; state legislation creating the local option sales tax and local funding for transportation and other infrastructure improvements. He has chaired blue-ribbon committees studying efficiency in government and in education.

In addition to the Authority, Smith serves on the board of the Georgian Club; is Trustee Emeritus of North Metro Tech Foundation; Past President of the Marietta Country Club and past Chairman of the Community Bank Board of the Bank of North Georgia; Chairman Emeritus of Friends of the Earl Smith Strand Theatre and a former member of the Cobb-Marietta Water Authority.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith reside in north Cobb County. They have two grown daughters, three granddaughters and are charter members of Eastside Baptist Church. Earl makes hobbies of work, golf and bush-hogging his pasture.

In attendance at the ceremony were members of the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority and past Authority Chairmen Barbara Williams and John Williams.

Located in the beautifully landscaped 88-acre Galleria complex in prestigious northwest Atlanta, Cobb Galleria Centre is Atlanta’s premiere convention facility with 320,000 square feet of event space, 4 exhibition halls, 20 meeting rooms, 4 executive boardrooms and a grand ballroom. The

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre is located at 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway in northwest Atlanta, inside the Perimeter. Cobb Energy Centre is a premier venue for opera, concerts, Broadway shows, ballet, educational shows, family shows and corporate meetings and events. The Centre hosts two resident companies, the Atlanta Ballet and The Atlanta Opera. The facility includes the 2,750-seat John A. Williams Theatre, 10,000-square-foot Kessel D. Stelling Ballroom and other meeting spaces, 1,000 parking spaces including a 700-space parking deck, and full-service food and beverage capabilities. The Cobb-Marietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority is the governing body of the Cobb Galleria Centre, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and Galleria Specialty Shops. For more information, visit cobbgalleria.com and cobbenergycentre.com.

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COBB-MARIETTA COLISEUM & EXHIBIT HALL AUTHORITY DEDICATES RACHEL AND EARL SMITH PLAZA