The wooden wall's sawdust smell mingles with the salty aroma of hot dogs, wafting over from the 800 block's Eat-a-Plenty snack shop. The sound of high heels clacking on pavement mixes with the not-so-muffled noises of pounding equipment, clanging almost constantly from behind the construction barrier.

These sights, sounds and smells are the latest signs of progress on what will one day be the city's premier downtown park - the Augusta Common.

Now that a timeline has been laid out for the park, with officials setting a completion date of July 31, storefronts along Broad Street are beginning to be rebuilt at a pace some say has not been seen since the 1970s.

"When the city government seemed to be floundering a year or so ago on a number of internal issues, we made a conscious decision to defer action on our project until we saw signs that the city was heading in a progressive direction," said Turner Simkins, one of five local investors renovating the former J.B. White's department store building in Broad Street's 900 block.

Bobcat operator Clarence Moody, of Thompson Building Wrecking Co. Inc., moves debris from 800 Broad St., at the future site of the Augusta Common. ANNETTE M. DROWLETTE/STAFF

But when Mr. Simkins and his business partners saw signs of progress on the Augusta Common, "we dusted off our plans" and started working again, he said.

The multimillion-dollar White's building project will convert the defunct four-story department store into about 50 luxury apartments. Bids for construction work are already in, and after a meeting last week, the only thing left to do is secure financing, Mr. Simkins said.

Already, a subcontractor is giving a $45,000 face-lift to the building's facade, using a government grant.

Meanwhile, several downtown buildings are being demolished to make way for the Augusta Common. The park is expected to be the ideal location for community events and festivals. It will include an athletic field lawn area, paved sidewalks, decorative plaques and statues, a fountain and bike racks, and will be well-lighted.

The $3.4 million park is expected to bring more daytime foot traffic downtown and improve property values for those in the immediate area.

The Augusta Common is the centerpiece of Augusta Tomorrow Inc.'s ambitious downtown plan, a plan that gave birth to Riverwalk Augusta and smaller projects.

When finished, it will stretch across half of the 800 block from the riverfront to Broad Street. It will be bordered to the north by the future permanent home of the Morris Museum of Art.

Although the Augusta Common has been on city books for years, officials say property negotiations, design discussions and at one point a funding shortfall held up construction.

"There was just one issue after another that came along," Mayor Bob Young said. "It's something I've given a lot of attention to, and I'm just glad to see it under way. And if other things are happening because it's under way, then hallelujah!"

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The first building was demolished this month to make way for the park, and several others are expected to be razed in coming weeks.

"There have been a lot of people who doubted it was ever going to happen," said Julian Osbon, a downtown property owner and Broad Street tenant.

"There just seems to be an increase in the tempo that's taking place," Mr. Osbon said. "The Common is the catalyst. It will take us to a new level."

Another government project has recently gotten off the ground and is encouraging to downtown stakeholders: The Richmond County Board of Education plans to move a half-dozen school administration offices scattered throughout the county into a single downtown complex.

The school board voted last month to pay $806,000 to purchase the old Davison Department Store building. About 200 Richmond County schools employees will work there, and there will be meeting and convention space to accommodate hundreds more, said Justin Martin, the spokesman for the school system.

"We are at a critical phase of redevelopment in downtown," said Chris Naylor, the director of the Downtown Development Authority and Main Street Augusta. "The major pieces are the Common and the board of education.

"All this is coming together at one time," he said. "It's making folks say, 'OK. It's time for us to start."'

Reach Heidi Coryell Williams at (706) 823-3215.