1736 Magazine - Vision for the Future

The Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority’s plan for a $228-million-plus James Brown Arena complex would seat more than 10,000, with a wing
connecting it to Bell Auditorium. The priciest downtown item in the special purpose, local option sales tax 8 project up for approval is $25 million for a new
James Brown Arena at the site of the current arena on Seventh Street. [IMAGES COURTESY OF PERKINS & WILL]
proposed military museum to
be located at the old Richmond
Academy building.
With the bulk of Augusta’s
blighted properties located in and
around downtown, the package
includes $4 million for blight mitigation,
such as replacing blighted
structures.
Projects that could benefit downtown
include the list’s $23.5 million
for road resurfacing, $20 million to
supplement the stormwater utility
fee for grading and drainage projects
and funding for tree, sidewalk and
traffic system work.
Projects on the SPLOST 8 list
that aren’t downtown include
$5 million in seed money for a
regional water park and $11 million
to replace the Richmond County
Correctional Institute.
On the list for downtown is
$500,000 for video security
“enhancements,” possibly supplementing
Richmond County
Sheriff’s Office surveillance and
$600,000 for maintenance of three
city cemeteries – Magnolia and
Cedar Grove downtown, as well as
Westview near Lake Olmstead.
The package includes $5.5 million
for a juvenile justice and training
center, the brainchild of Chief
Superior Court Judge Carl C. Brown.
Columbia County’s recent decision
to leave the Augusta Judicial
Circuit could impact the project but
its proposed location is at the Craig
Houghton School or the former Joint
Law Enforcement Center, both of
which are downtown.
40 | 1736magazine.com