Fall 2020 - 1736 Magazine

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JORDAN JOHNSON ON THE ISSUES >> EAST AUGUSTA FLOODING: The issue we have with the old city is that the infrastructure is sort of crumbling. I mean, that’s why you have lot of flooding in east Augusta. The conversation is that it floods because of the way that it sits geographically – Augusta sits in a bowl. Well, there’s nothing that engineering can't solve where flooding is concerned. It all goes back down to allocation of resources. There’s no reason why that neighborhood has been flooded out since the ’50s. There has been progress made over the last eight to 10 years, but we have to continue the progress. GATEWAYS FROM AUGUSTA REGIONAL AIRPORT: I don’t think we understand the jewel we have at the airport. I've heard a lot of talk over the years about land around the airport and its economic development potential, I just haven't seen anything actually come to fruition yet. We need it. What if we fed people into downtown from the airport with billboards advertising downtown businesses? Think about it. You want a nice hotel, you’re either going downtown or to Washington Road. But there’s nothing on the way. NUISANCE PROPERTIES IN DOWNTOWN: It frustrates me that we do a lot of code enforcement on homes, but not so much on business owners. I am not in favor of a tax for blight – not as of yet. What I am in favor of is making sure that we hold business owners and land owners accountable for their properties in this area. We’ve got to do something to make sure that owners of these buildings know the conditions that their properties are leaving the downtown area in. They need to know we’re not playing around. ON THE IDEA OF BUILDING A NEW JAMES BROWN ARENA: It’s time. Our arena needs a facelift. By adding a couple of thousand more seats, we can attract better shows. Having the James Brown Arena downtown – connected to the Bell (Auditorium) – we can have ourselves an entertainment district. I love the fact that we're getting ready to get a new arena. That is great, and I’m going to support it. DEMOLITION OF ABANDONED/ DILAPIDATED HOMES: We have got to have more money in our tax base to address some of the issues the urban core has. You know, we have so many blighted homes – especially in the Bethlehem area, where the old brick yard was, the old mill – all those mill houses are run down now. We have so many of them because we just don't have the funding to put toward the demolition. GENTRIFICATION IN THE URBAN CORE: When I see developments come up, I get excited because we’re bringing in new people; the more tax base, the more opportunity we have to do better things. But I’m always concerned because if there’s no plan to take care of the people who have been living there for decades, then what message do we send to someone who bought a home (decades ago) and now is facing something that they don’t necessarily want. That’s the concern I have. DOWNTOWN PARKING MANAGEMENT: I know it’s not a hot issue anymore because (of COVID- 19). I haven’t had that question asked in a long time. But yes, a parking management plan is necessary. I would hold off until after (the T-SPLOST) streetscape. We don’t want folks dodging construction and payment. We need a parking management plan that makes sense, that is in accordance with what downtown business owners and residents want. We also can look at our back streets – the Ellis Streets of downtown. There are so many different vacant properties that we can build parking decks and parking lots on. PERMITTING OPEN CONTAINER ALCOHOL IN DOWNTOWN: I definitely need to do some research on that, but just off the cuff, if you're going to have a downtown that attracts (young people), especially business folks and out-of-town professionals who just want to have a good time, we've got to loosen this idea that we’re just this retirement golf town. I don’t see the harm in open containers. If I want to go into a bar and order a mixed drink and walk to the Augusta Common and sit down and drink it, I should be able to. – The Augusta Chronicle 20 | <strong>1736</strong>magazine.com
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Page 1 and 2: FALL 2020 WATERWAYS EDITION Facing
Page 3 and 4: A PRODUCT OF PRESIDENT TONY BERNADO
Page 5 and 6: A temporary walkway for constructio
Page 7 and 8: - may very well be the prime reason
Page 9 and 10: The vacant three-story building at
Page 11 and 12: At University Health Care System, p
Page 13 and 14: Jordan Johnson’s journey to the A
Page 15 and 16: with tracts occupied by everything
Page 17 and 18: issues are the same: You don't want
Page 19: The Augusta Commission District 1 e
Page 23 and 24: The first phase of the renovation c
Page 25 and 26: 1736magazine.com | 25
Page 27 and 28: Sunday, November 15, 2020 T27
Page 29 and 30: The original First Baptist Church o
Page 31 and 32: Richmond County Sheriff’s Deputy
Page 33 and 34: Margaret Woodard, executive directo
Page 35 and 36: Graffiti and overgrown weeds mark t
Page 38 and 39: Pedestrians make their way along Ei
Page 40 and 41: MYTHS HARD TO DISPEL Officials can'
Page 42 and 43: THE ALCOHOL EFFECT Patrons congrega
Page 44 and 45: Good first impressions are importan
Page 46 and 47: Richmond County Community Safety Of
Page 48 and 49: Richmond County Sheriff’s Office
Page 50 and 51: URBAN CORE CRIME Below is a year-to
Page 52 and 53: By the 2010s, most of downtown’s
Page 54 and 55: COMPARE... Building: Former Cobern
Page 56: Artist renderings depict the front
Page 59 and 60: The asymmetric roof lines of the pr
Page 61 and 62: Brendan Thompson, executive directo
Page 63 and 64: An artist rendering shows the front
Page 65: Westobou just completed a “Black
Page 68 and 69: BRIEFING By DAMON CLINE HITS & MISS
Page 70 and 71:
FINAL WORDS The biggest danger in d
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Fall 2020 - 1736 Magazine

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