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The first phase of Augusta Common, linking Broad and Reynolds streets, is almost finished, but two more phases, extending the park from the river to Ellis Street, are in the works.
ANNETTE M. DROWLETTE/STAFF |
There's more to the Augusta Common than just a pretty lawn.
The urban park you see nestled in the 800 block between Broad and Reynolds streets is merely the first of three phases. Once completed, the Common's footprint will stretch from the riverfront to Ellis Street.
According to current plans, phase two will extend north across Reynolds Street to the riverfront, an area that will be the future home of the Morris Museum of Art.
The museum's developer, William S. Morris, the CEO of Morris Communications Co., said the project is moving forward and his staff has completed preliminary architectural sketches for the building, which will house the art collection currently displayed inside the Augusta Riverfront Center.
Phase three will extend south across Broad Street to Ellis Street on property occupied by the former Kress department store. Plans call for the building to be acquired by the city, demolished and replaced with new government facilities.
Discussions so far have focused on building a new public library, continuing education facilities and city administration offices. Those proposals may change or be firmed up when the fourth revision to the downtown master plan is released in 30 days.
City officials have no set timeline on when phases two and three will get under way, or whether they would be developed in sequential order. Phase two is slated to receive funding through the special purpose local option sales tax in 2005.
Phase one was funded largely with city money but received $750,000 in state money through the Augusta Neighborhood Improvement Corp.
The project, which was outlined in Augusta Tomorrow's revised master plan in 1995, did not gain momentum until the city government made the project a priority in the late 1990s.
"It didn't get anywhere until someone took ownership of it," Mayor Bob Young said.
The city began acquiring land for the project in 1999. Demolition of the five buildings on the property started in late 2001. Construction began early this year but experienced delays as workers unexpectedly encountered underground bank vaults and weak walls on buildings bordering the park.
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Benches line the outside of the Common's central grassy area. Several landmarks and projects are planned for the green space.
ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/STAFF |
A two-story building that will house public restrooms and offices for the Riverwalk Augusta special events office will be built next year at the park's northeastern corner.
The centerpiece of the first phase will be a $100,000 bronze statue of James Edward Oglethorpe, paid for by Augusta Tomorrow members. It will be unveiled next winter.
Each corner of the park has been dedicated to a particular freedom: The northwest corner is religious freedom; the northeast corner is moral freedom; the southeast corner is political freedom; and the southwest corner highlights freedom of speech and has been dubbed Speakers Corner. An homage to London's Hyde Park, Speakers Corner features a stone replica of a soapbox and a politician's stump.
The east central side of the park will have a wall fountain featuring a bronze seal of Augusta mounted in the middle of a green tile.
The Common will also have four interpretive plaques. One of them shows Oglethorpe's original town plan, which included a large tract of green space in the heart of Augusta.
Reach Damon Cline at (706) 823-3486 or dcline@augustachronicle.com.
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