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

FINAL WORDS
Downtown uncertainty
abounds, but its
fundamentals won’t change
DAMON CLINE, EDITOR
There was perhaps more
uncertainty involved
in the production of
this particular issue
than in any previous
edition of 1736.
There are many unknowns right
now, and many could have an impact
on what you read in this edition.
For example, as of press time
we have no clue what direction the
commerce-disrupting COVID-19
pandemic will take. It could worsen,
stabilize or – if we’re lucky – scientists
will have discovered a vaccine.
That last one’s a longshot, but it
could happen.
Another wild card is the 2020
Masters Tournament, Augusta’s
single-largest economic event. Will
the tournament run as usual? Will
Augusta National Golf Club host it
spectator-free, like other tournaments
have done? Will the club
just call the whole thing off (which
is something it hasn’t done since
World War II)?
Another unknown is the city’s
municipal runoff election, which will
have been decided between the time
I write this and the time you read
it. All three seats up for grabs are
important to the future of downtown
because it takes consensus for
Augusta commissioners to shape
public policy.
But the most important of the
three is the District 1 runoff; the district
covers all of downtown and far
east Augusta. The race between real
estate investor Michael Thurman
and Jordan Johnson, director of the
nonprofit Boys and Girls Club organization,
is one where the ultimate
winner has an opportunity to be a
true “champion” for downtown.
And downtown needs a champion
in city government. I’ve lived in
metro Augusta for 23 years, and I can
honestly say no District 1 representative
during that time has fit my
personal criteria for being a true
advocate.
Perhaps my bar is too high.
Perhaps it’s because I consider
District 1 to be the most important
district in the city.
District 1 is pure, concentrated
“Augusta.” It is the true embodiment
of the city for visitors and residents
alike. It’s the cultural, entertainment,
employment and economic
epicenter of the city.
The district’s new commissioner
needs to be as in tune with
its commercial property owners,
shopkeepers and other stakeholders
as he is with homeowners in the
historic neighborhoods surrounding
the central business district.
The two constituent groups are
more connected than one may think.
What benefits urban neighborhoods
benefits the central business district
and vice-versa. The best way to
improve downtown – and the city’s
overall tax base – is to get more
people living there.
Promoting the creation of new
and renovated market-rate housing
units in the urban core should be
the new commissioner’s No. 1 goal.
Increasing residential density in an
area where infrastructure already
exists can help fund projects in the
county’s other areas, which need
parks, trails, better streets and a host
of other public services.
Regardless of who wins the runoff,
and regardless of the pandemic and
the Masters Tournament, downtown
Augusta will be A-OK in the long
run. It has fundamentally turned a
corner in the past couple of decades,
from a gritty but charming place
to grab a quick bite and a drink to a
place where you can dine on unique
chef-inspired entrees and catch
first-rate shows (when there is not a
pandemic, of course).
Downtown still has some gritty
areas, but most people seem fine
with that. It makes our downtown
look “lived in” and authentic, which
is something visitors increasingly
seek in their tourism experiences.
Just keep downtown relatively
safe and clean and it will continue to
prosper.
Bottom line: No short-term
uncertainties can change the fundamentals
of Augusta’s downtown.
Months from now, people will still
want to live there. People will still
want to work there. And people will
still want to be entertained there.
And as everybody knows, when
people really want something, they
can only be slowed. They can’t be
stopped.
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