Fall 2020 - 1736 Magazine

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But not every property owner is so swift to combat vandalism downtown, where a substantial number of vacant and dilapidated buildings already creates a public perception of lawlessness and disorder. The term for the phenomenon – the “broken window theory” – was coined in the early 1980s by professors James Wilson and George Kelling, who held that visible signs of minor crime and neglect, such as un-repaired broken windows, embolden further criminal activity and frighten the law-abiding public. The theory has become canon for public- and private-sector community COMPARE... Building: Former Sky City store Address: 1140 Broad St. Owner: Naman Hotels, Florence, S.C. Size: 48,018 Year built: 1969 Tax-assessed value: $1,185,456 Condition: Vacant, dilapidated History: Sky City was an Asheville, N.C.-based discount department store chain whose Augusta store closed in 1989. The building's last tenant, the Broad Street Bazaar, closed several years ago. The Florence, S.C.-based franchise hotel operator acquired the building and adjacent lots, roughly 1.6 acres in total, in 2016 to replace the structures with an Embassy Suites hotel. The hotel project was announced around the same time as the Hyatt House hotel on the 1200 block and the scuttled Marriott-branded hotel at the corner of 9th and Reynolds streets. The Embassy Suites project is still reportedly in the works, but company CEO Ashok Patel has not returned repeated phone messages seeking comment on the project's status. A rusted awning hangs over the entrance to the former Sky City department store on the 1100 block of Broad Street. [SPECIAL/ AUGUSTA-RICHMOND COUNTY] 32 | <strong>1736</strong>magazine.com
Margaret Woodard, executive director of the Augusta Downtown Development Authority, left, shows the binder, right, cataloging more than 150 graffiti-marked sites in the central business district. development officials, who contend an area’s appearance of criminality has as much impact on the public psyche as its actual incidence of crime. “In this case, perception is reality,” said Ed McMahon, the Urban Land Institute’s Charles E. Fraser Chair on Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy. “The image of a community is fundamentally important to its economic well-being. Every single day in America people make decisions about where to live, where to work, where to shop, where to vacation and even where to retire based on what a community looks like.” UNSAFE, OR JUST UNKEMPT? Downtown Augusta’s appearance problems are well-documented. The city’s central business district – once the region’s center of commerce – began to deteriorate in the late 1970s as traditional retail migrated to suburban malls and shopping centers. The dearth of consumer traffic put a virtual freeze on most publicand private-sector investment for nearly two decades. Cracked and uneven sidewalks were ignored. Vacated buildings, many of which date back to the 19th and early 20th centuries, were mothballed by owners and allowed to deteriorate. Homes in nearby historic neighborhoods were abandoned by their original owners and slowly morphed into low-income rental units. To a visitor or even a suburban resident, the city center looked unsafe. Downtown began turning a corner in the mid-1990s as a slew of artists and young entrepreneurs began moving into low-rent spaces along Broad Street. The emerging downtown “scene” attracted young, urban-minded professionals and couples to an increasing number of loft apartments. Construction of the city’s riverfront conference and convention center along the Savannah River in 1992 gave visitors and residents alike a reason to come downtown again. The first-phase completion of a new “central park,” the Augusta Common in 2002, became the first major public-works endeavor since Riverwalk Augusta two decades earlier. By the 2010s, most of downtown’s smaller storefronts were occupied by bars, restaurants and boutique retailers, leaving a handful of former department stores and office buildings with vacancies. A string of new downtown investments in recent years – such as the Hyatt House hotel, the Georgia Cyber Center, the TaxSlayer AND CONTRAST... Building: Security Federal Bank-Broad Street Address: 1109 Broad St. Owner: Security Federal Bank, Aiken Size: 4,000 square feet Year built: 1924 Tax-assessed value: $703,137 Condition: Vacant, undergoing historic renovation History: Originally built by the Georgia Railroad Bank as its “uptown branch,” the building was used as a bank until the property was sold to the Augusta Genealogical Society in 1993. Security Federal Bank, searching for a downtown Augusta office, purchased the half-acre tract in 2019. The bank is in the midst of a historic preservation tax credit-funded renovation that is expected to reopen the building as a branch office in 2021. The former Georgia Railroad Bank uptown branch at 1109 Broad St., previously owned by the Augusta Genealogical Society, is being renovated by Security Federal Bank. [FILE/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] <strong>1736</strong>magazine.com | 33
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 and 20: The Augusta Commission District 1 e
Page 21 and 22: High-efficiency chiller. Improvedco
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: Richmond County Sheriff’s Deputy
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

Fall 2020 - 1736 Magazine

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