Downtown business owners try to keep smiling amid pandemic - 1736 Magazine, Summer 2020

AUGUSTA TOMORROW continued from 46
“It’s one of the biggest focus areas
of this city,” she said. “Obviously,
in order for (increased downtown
population) to happen, you need a
clean downtown so that people feel
safe about living downtown. No
21-year-old or even a 30-year-old
is going to live downtown if it’s not
clean and safe – plain and simple.”
Improving governmental relations
are important because prospective
private-sector investment in downtown
can be stymied without consensus
from elected officials. Unlike other
groups with an interest in downtown
revitalization – such as the Augusta
Economic Development Authority,
the Augusta Coliseum Authority and
the Augusta Downtown Development
Authority – Augusta Tomorrow’s
leaders are not appointed by Augusta
commissioners.
And unlike quasi-governmental
entities such as the Augusta Convention
& Visitors Bureau, Augusta
Tomorrow receives no city funding,
although it did for several years after
its founding in 1982 to create a downtown
revitalization plan in response
to the massive decline in commercial
activity caused by new shopping centers
and malls in suburban areas.
Riverwalk Augusta was a project
outlined in Augusta Tomorrow’s
1982 master plan. The plan’s 1995
revision called for the creation of the
Augusta Common, an urban park
that serves as a venue for outdoor
concerts and events such as the Arts
in the Heart festival.
As an independent group, Rhodes
acknowledges that working with
city officials is an arduous and
time-consuming task; downtown is
represented by only one of the city’s
10 commission members.
“We are trying to let the entire city
know that downtown is vital to the
success of Augusta,” he said. “We
need all the commissioners to get
any real things done. We can’t just
have one or two on our side. So it’s a
challenge. We’d be lying if we said it
wasn’t. But I think we’re starting to
get the game plan on how we can let
everyone in their city, in their county,
know that a successful downtown is
vital to everyone.”
Last summer Augusta Tomorrow
began having one-on-one meetings
with individual commissioners to
build trust and keep them apprised
of the group’s activities. Dallas said
she plans to attend as many governmental
meetings as possible to
foster relationships, keep apprised
of local developments and answer
questions if need be.
She also wants to create stronger
connections with other groups with
downtown improvement initiatives,
such as the CVB, DDA and the Chamber
of Commerce, as well as government
agencies such as the Augusta
Land Bank Authority.
“There’s a lot of crossover. A lot
of Augusta Tomorrow members are
board members of the chamber, the
CVB and other groups,” said Dallas,
who is a board member of the Land
Bank Authority. “There needs to be
crossover because our visions have to
be aligned, because if they weren’t,
there wouldn’t be any progress.”
Augusta Tomorrow was organized
by H. Monty Osteen Jr., then president
of Bankers First, and D. Hugh
Connolly, then president of real
estate firm Sherman & Hemstreet.
Osteen is still active on the board;
Connolly is retired.
The city of Augusta paid half the
cost for the group’s first downtown
master plan, which was created with
help from The American City Corp.,
a subsidiary of The Rouse Co., the
Maryland-based developer whose
urban renewal projects include Baltimore’s
Harborplace and the Jacksonville
Landing in Jacksonville, Fla.
Augusta Tomorrow in recent years
has brought in younger downtown
stakeholders as members – such
as real estate investor Rafy Bassali,
financial adviser Rob Wynn and John
Engler, a partner in the company that
owns the Hyatt House – to help advocate
for ongoing master plan projects,
such as expanding the Augusta
Common north to the riverfront.
Although the new leaders want
to develop better relationships with
other downtown-focused entities
and agencies, they still want Augusta
Tomorrow to remain a “behind the
scenes” organization.
“We don’t want to be construed as
taking credit for things because we
can’t do any of it without help from
other community leaders and the
commission,” Rhodes said.
To which Ryan adds: “We’re OK
with other people taking credit for the
work that we do as long as we accomplish
our goal.”
About 67% of the projects in
Augusta Tomorrow’s 2009 downtown
master plan have been completed,
Dallas said.
“There is obviously a lot of work to
do,” she said. “But there has been a lot
significant progress.”
Rhodes said he is confident Dallas
can improve the organization’s
governmental relationships and help
reduce the time it takes for plans to
come to fruition.
“What Ryan and I and the rest of
the executive board talked about
was that we needed to bring somebody
in who was a little younger, a
little hungrier to just start pushing
our initiatives a little more,” he said.
“We’re a working board, but we also
want our executive driver to be working
on the same issues we are. And I
think Lauren has the perfect résumé
and the demeanor to go out and to
push Augusta Tomorrow’s initiatives
across the community. We’re very
excited to have her enthusiasm to
continue the progress that we’ve had
over the past several years.”
Once Rhodes term as president
expires, Downs will be next in line for
the position.
“He would probably hate me for
saying this, but to have Brian Rhodes’,
the CEO of TaxSlayer as president of
the board – helping us make efficient
and focused discussions – is very
valuable,” Downs said. “And Robert
(Osborne) is as good as it gets.”
“The next guy in line is going to
be a major step down,” Downs said
jokingly.
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