Beautification Edition - 1736 Magazine, Summer 2019

GRADING DOWNTOWN
Community service officers are welcome addition
By DAMON CLINE
6.5 5 6.5 3
PUBLIC SAFETY
Previous score: 6.5
GOVERNMENT
Previous score: 5.5
HOUSING
Previous score: 6.5
PARKING
Previous score: 2.5
For the most part, there are
few good reasons – but plenty
of bad ones – for unsupervised
minors to be on downtown
streets between 11 p.m. and 5
a.m. The city has a curfew law,
but enforcement appears to be
less-than-stringent; many are
unaware the law is on the books.
It would behoove law enforcement
officers to be more diligent
at investigating apparent violations,
as any juvenile willing to
break a curfew law is capable of
committing a much more serious
infraction. The presence of additional
community service officers
downtown are a welcome sight.
8
DEVELOPMENT
Previous score: 8.5
The city is preparing to turn
the old train depot property to
the Alabama-based developers
of the Riverfront at the Depot
mixed-use project, clearing the
way for work to commence at
the long-anticipated east-end
site. But why are city leaders
seemingly giving a lukewarm
reaction to a local developer
proposing an even larger
proposal to extend the Augusta
Common northward to the
riverfront? Does the city lack the
bandwidth to handle another
major public-private project, or
are politics at play?
Augusta’s government is a constant
mixed bag. The good – such
as the city’s code enforcement
department adding two new
downtown-dedicated officers –
always seems to be offset by
the bad – such as an Augusta
commissioner’s 11th hour attempt
to obstruct the Riverfront at
the Depot project over a 60-day
request to extend the due diligence
period. The county coliseum
authority is back on track to
expand James Brown Arena, but it
has been in stasis since an impractical
alternative was politically
forced upon it in 2017. And we’ve
still yet to see any elected official
who could qualify as a “champion”
for downtown.
5.5
INFRASTRUCTURE
Previous score: 5.5
Augusta’s laudable indoor smoking
ban has produced an unpleasant
byproduct – more cigarette butts
on city streets and sidewalks.
Downtown bar and restaurant
owners would do themselves, and
everyone else, a favor by ensuring
their establishments offer ample
outdoor ashtrays and cigarette
disposal units to keep Broad Street
from looking trashy. What good are
streetscape improvements if they’re
covered in litter? Lack of maintenance
in downtown’s public spaces
remains subpar at best.
Multiple multi-family developments
are in the works in the
urban core, but until they come
to fruition, downtown’s housing
inventory will continue to trail
the pent-up demand for urbandwelling
young professionals
whose disposable income would
attract much-needed commercial
businesses – namely grocery
stores and general merchandise
retailers. The fastest way to
improve a downtown is to get
people living downtown.
7.5
ARTS & CULTURE
Previous score: 7.5
It was perhaps unrealistic to
assume the Miller Theater
could sustain the breakneck
pace of its inaugural-year
programming. Hopefully, the
venue’s second- and third-phase
renovations will usher in more
“experimental and experiential”
performing arts opportunities.
Meanwhile, Augusta’s other
historic theater, the Imperial,
is preparing to embark on a $4
million capital campaign for
much needed-improvements.
And while the recently-opened
Pexcho American Dime Museum
might not be your cup of tea,
the sideshow-themed attraction
certainly widens downtown’s
entertainment spectrum.
Progress, though glacially slow,
is being made. City officials
have identified a vendor to run
downtown’s long-overdue parking-management
program, which
is needed to keep all-day parkers
from inconveniencing business
patrons. New signs that prohibit
vehicles over 18 feet long – about
two feet longer than a full-size
SUV – from Broad Street’s sunken
parking bays is also a step in
the right direction; commercial
vehicles and work trucks belong
on side streets.
7.5
COMMERCE
Previous score: 7.5
A slew of new eateries and offices
have opened in recent months,
and more appear to be on the
way as young professionals and
students gravitate to the central
business district’s uniquely urban
environment. Time will tell, however,
if the energy of upper Broad
Street will spur development at
downtown’s larger vacant structures
and “cross the tracks” past
the 600 block once the Riverfront
at the Depot project starts going
vertical.
OVERALL SCORE:
6.18
Previous quarter: 6.25
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