Fall 2020 - 1736 Magazine

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Richmond County Community Safety Officers Cameron Carreras, left, and Mark Rettberg greet pedestrians as they cruise down Broad Street in their golf cart. COMPARE... Building: Former Kress department store Address: 834 Broad St. Owner: Bonnie Ruben, Augusta Size: 16,689 square feet Year built: 1927 Tax-assessed value: $231,417 Condition: Vacant, severely dilapidated History: The gutted building has been empty since the Kress dime store closed in 1980. Wood rot from a leaky roof caused the building's second floor to collapse in the early 2000s. Ruben, who purchased the building in 1988, has for years said she intends to redevelop the property as an open-air market. She has declined offers to purchase the building as recently as 2019. Revitalization organization Augusta Tomorrow's master plans over the years have depicted the Augusta Common extending southward through the building to Ellis Street. The property fronts the James Brown statue, a popular tourist attraction, in the median of the 800 block. Augusta’s James Brown statue sits in front of the dilapidated former Kress department store at 834 Broad St. [ 46 | <strong>1736</strong>magazine.com
BLIGHT continued from 43 attending downtown shows because of criminal activity. “We didn’t have crime,” D’Amico said. “We had problems with panhandlers, but as far as crime, there was no crime down there. Nobody was getting robbed when they left. When they would go out to the parking lots, their cars were still there. “So when he said that, especially being a public official, now everybody thinks there is a crime problem,” D’Amico said. “How do we get past that to convince folks that their perception is wrong when you’ve got a public official saying that?” The key is making people “feel” safe by making downtown appear less vacant and abandoned. PROPERTY POLICE Some cities enforce codes much more aggressively as a tactic to spur business owners into action, either to make their properties attractive to occupants or sell them to investors who will. Chicago, for example, requires vacant buildings be registered with the city every six months for a $250 fee. The registration requires the owner have $300,000 in insurance liability coverage for vacant residential structures, and $1 million for commercial buildings. Plywood can be used only to cover broken windows and doors for a sixmonth period. All property vacant for six Ed McMahon, a fellow with the Urban Land Institute, has written more than 15 books about downtown revitalization and historic preservation. [SPECIAL/URBAN LAND INSTITUTE] months or longer must have lighting at entrances and exits from dusk until dawn. Woodard, whose organization has shifted its focus from business recruitment to retention because of the pandemic, sought to reassure residents already unnerved by COVID-19 that downtown is safe. Working with the city and private property owners, she created a binder of photos and descriptions of more than 150 graffiti marks on public and private property during August. The city removed graffiti from public AND CONTRAST... Building: Lowrey Wagon Works Apartments Address: 912 Ellis St. Owner: Mark Donahue, Augusta Size: 14,652 square feet Year built: 1860 Tax-assessed value: $1,883,476 Condition: Occupied, fully renovated History: The 160-year-old wagon works building, developed by J.H. Lowrey, was confiscated by the Confederacy during the Civil War and later served as a school for free black children. In 1925, J.B. White's purchased the building to serve as a warehouse for its former store at 936 Broad St. It entered a decades-long period of neglect after the store closed in the late 1970s and regularly appeared on Historic Augusta's annual "Endangered Properties" list. Donahue acquired the property from a local real estate partnership in 2015 and converted the historic property into 19 loft apartment units. The Lowrey building at 912 Ellis St., vacant for nearly 40 years, now houses 19 loft apartment units. <strong>1736</strong>magazine.com | 47
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 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 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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