Augusta business leaders banded together downtown, Friday morning, to publicly declare support for the C-SPLOST referendum to fund a new James Brown Arena.
In a media conference at Destination Augusta at 1010 Broad St., Dennis Trotter of Jordan Trotter Commercial Real Estate, and chairman of Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce, announced on behalf of the Chamber and a coalition of Augusta organizations joint support of a .5% sales tax to fund redevelopment of the James Brown Arena, the referendum for which is on the ballot for Tuesday’s election.
“The question of a new tax for any of our organizations, both personally and professionally… is not an easy one to address,” said Trotter. “However, the alternative of not investing and continuing to invest in the future of our region is unacceptable, and not addressing the outdated structure of the James Brown arena is also unacceptable.”
The Augusta Economic Development Authority, the Augusta Sports Council, Visit Augusta and the Downtown Development Authority of Augusta partnered with the Chamber for a unified front in favor of the referendum.
Trotter underscored the potential impact of the proposed new multi-purpose entertainment complex, planned to include 10,500 seats and a connection to the Bell Auditorium, on local businesses.
“Those businesses, especially the small businesses working with the Downtown Development Authority, that have chosen to make downtown Augusta their home, these businesses need to know their investment was not made in vain,” Trotter said.
The rally advocating the C-SPLOST was organized amid low early voting numbers, which as of Friday saw approximately 3.35% of 126,607 registered Augusta voters cast ballots on the referendum,
Ryan Mahoney, a consultant for the Augusta Coliseum Authority, finds those numbers disappointing, but also sees a further opportunity to engage and inform the community about the significance of its voice in determining the fate of the James Brown Arena.
“My concern, and I think the concern of many in this room, is that you want the community to weigh in. You don’t want this decision to be made by a small amount of folks,” said Mahoney, who remains undeterred regarding citizens’ prospective turnout to the ballot.
“I think today was this kind of a visualization of community coming together in support of a community project, but also to alert their members, businesses, family, friends, that this is something that matters to us enough to come to a press conference at nine o’clock on a Friday morning,” he said. “This matters to us. And so let’s make it a priority to you.”
Election Day will be Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
