There has been a lot of hard work and planning in recent years when it comes to boosting the now-consolidated Augusta, our economy and our overall quality of life.
The best news to date, however, is that Georgia has a governor who pledges to work with our state lawmakers, as well as Augusta's political and civic leaders, to help fund a just-unveiled $94.5 million capital improvements package.
Under a bold plan jointly presented Wednesday in Atlanta by Augusta Tomorrow -- a 17-member private business partnership -- and assorted Augusta public officials, the state is being asked to contribute $30 million to make this dream become a reality.
An additional $24 million would be raised from such local sources as the sales tax, $25 million from private sector donations, and $15.5 million expected from previous state grants and federal aid.
Gov. Roy Barnes calls Augusta ``a sleeping giant,'' and wants -- in the words of Senate Majority Leader Charles Walker, D-Augusta -- for our community ``to become part of the economic hierarchy of Georgia.''
To Walker's credit, he told a Chronicle editorial board over a year ago that one of his goals was to help unveil such a package in 1999, no matter who became governor. After all, he noted, other Georgia cities have already been funding similar plans.
We commend to readers yesterday's news stories and graphics outlining the specifics, including $30 million to complete the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and gardens, $10 million for the Laney-Walker area, $10.5 million for a Merry Ponds rowing venue (an ideal Olympic training center) and $5.5 million for landscaped ``gateways'' and corridors into and out of Augusta.
The centerpiece of an ambitious downtown redevelopment plan, unveiled in 1995 by Augusta Tomorrow, is the Augusta Commons. It is envisioned as an oval-shaped park reaching from the riverfront across Reynolds Street to Broad Street, where a major retail complex could be located. The city has already committed $2 million to this project but, under this new plan, the state would give $3 million.
Also to be funded is a replacement for Paine College's antiquated gym and a new college health sciences building. In south Augusta, there would be a sports complex which would serve as the venue for both soccer and baseball for the 1999 Georgia Games.
All of this, naturally, will take every public servant pulling together, regardless of politics, to make it happen.
It will take civic and business leaders going the extra mile to ``sell'' this growth plan in order to secure funding. But we have every confidence that Augusta, its leaders and its people can overcome any obstacles as it tackles these new and exciting projects.
