1736 Magazine - Fall 2018

BRIEFING
By Damon Cline
HITS & MISSES
Regency Mall as civic center site: The city coliseum
authority’s resolution to pick the vacant Regency Mall
as the preferred site for a new 10,000-plus seat arena
- an idea roundly rejected this year by city voters in a straw
poll - is extremely short-sighted and blatantly political.
Putting the city’s largest entertainment venue miles
from its arts and culture epicenter defies all logic.
Thank goodness the idea is on hold.
Dilapidated downtown buildings: Vacant is one thing,
hopelessly decrepit is another. Not only have some property
owners allowed their downtown buildings to fall into major
disrepair, they compound the problem by refusing to sell
to others who might be willing to invest the necessary
time and money. Fix your buildings or turn them over to
someone who will.
Hyatt Place: The $25 million-plus Hyatt House hotel project,
the largest private-sector investment in downtown in
decades, will transform upper Broad Street when it opens
with eight stories of luxury rooms, ground floor retail and a
rooftop bar.
Status quo crowd: Downtowns are evolving. The central
business district of yesteryear isn’t coming back. Instead
of trying to recreate the city in its former self – and falling
back on “we’ve always done it this way” or “that will never
work here” attitudes – how about focusing on creative and
innovative solutions to downtown problems? Or at least not
knocking those who do.
North Augusta plays ball:
Though the Augusta GreenJackets-anchored Riverside Village
at Hammonds Ferry complex in North Augusta wasn’t birthed
in the spirit of regional cooperation – the team took its game
across the river when Augusta balked at a downtown stadium
proposal - the $230 million multiuse complex could bridge
the border gap in a manner never before seen.
HITS & MISSES
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