Going line by line through the proposed SPLOST expenditures, The Augusta Press found several curious projects set for SPLOST 8. One of those expenditures is the $14 million allocated for the old train depot at the corner of 5th Street and Reynolds Street.
After further examination, we discovered the allocation was for a possible future multi-story parking facility at or near the site.
A reader of The Augusta Press, Thomas Hodges, commented on our original story, “For cryin’ out loud, it’s a FREIGHT depot! Who is alive that remembers it in its ‘glory?’ Tear the eyesore down and pave the area for more parking if it’s needed. That should not cost $14,000,000.”
We agree with Mr. Hodges. But the situation is complicated, to say the least.
The city entered into a “perpetual” lease deal with Unisys that gave it control of a certain number of spaces in the area for parking. We don’t fault Unisys for negotiating the best deal possible and for holding the city to task in upholding its part of the deal.
However, the city now finds itself in a situation where it has to uphold its commitment to providing parking for Unisys while continuing to wring its hands over future development at the site. The pickle is that the city only now controls basically the footprint of what is the old depot building.
The building itself is actually worth more from its construction materials than sitting in situ as it is today. The bricks and hearty aged timber could be repurposed and even auctioned off to eventually wind up in luxury apartments downtown.
The old depot has no historic value unless one has a penchant for researching the Drayman trade of the 19th century and is willing to ignore the fact that the building was built in the early 20th century, long after the Drayman trade ended.
Over the decades, the city of Augusta has spent considerable sums of money on contaminant abatement of the land, ecological studies, development studies, charts and graphs, building maintenance and development deals, all to keep the sacred cow that is the old depot.
While we at The Augusta Press are very much in favor of historical preservation, we have to point out the elephant in the room and explain how that elephant made it into the room.
Yes, the city signed an awful deal, and now the taxpayers have to soak it up. But, if the taxpayers are going to remedy the situation, then we have to pay to maintain and create the parking that Unisys and any prospective developer needs in that area. That means the city must build a parking deck on the site or just agree to let a prime piece of commercial real estate remain a giant parking lot with an ugly warehouse in the middle of the city.
Taxpayers must realize that each of the old depot’s parts are more valuable than the total sum of the building. The dirt that sits under the old depot building is worth more than the building itself.
The Old Depot on Reynolds and 5th Street should be dismantled and make the land available for purchase for development without prospective developers having to follow rigid historical guidelines to try and incorporate an obsolete building into their plans.
The Depot is, after all, just a warehouse. Washington never slept there.
The city needs to demolish that old depot and move on towards satisfying its existing commitments while also creating economic growth.
