The Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority (ARCCA), during its meeting Tuesday afternoon, voted to accept a right-of-way abandoned by the city.
After a hearing held in August, the Augusta Commission agreed to relinquish city use of a portion of Twiggs and Watkins Streets near the construction site of the new arena, between Sixth and Fenwick Streets.
Included in this determination was that the property be quit-claimed to ARCCA for one dollar. One condition of this transfer is that the city be granted an easement to access a 10-inch water line that runs through property to conduct maintenance, ARCCA attorney Edward Enoch told board members.
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The board also voted on a bid for the installation of a new lighting system in the Bell Auditorium. Todd Mastry, general manager of the Augusta Entertainment Complex, explained to board members that two bids were offered, one from Active Audio Visual, based locally, for approximately $56,000, and another from Savannah-based Stage Front for more than $316,000.
The reason for the disparity, Mastry said, was that the latter bid would entail fully replacing “exactly what was built and created probably close to 50 years ago.” He then contended that current technology wouldn’t necessitate that much equipment.
“Technology has changed so much in the years, and with what the shows are bringing with them, there’s not a need to spend over $300,000,” said Mastry. “It’s way more bells and whistles than we ever need. It’s great to have a Cadillac, but if a Nissan Sentra gets you there, that’s all you really need.”
The board members voted unanimously in favor of the lower bid.
Jane Marie Kinsey, president of McKnight Construction, stopped by during the meeting to present ARCCA with a plaque for the Build Georgia Award.
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The Associated General Contractors of Georgia (AGC) presents the Build Georgia Award to recognize projects throughout the state that exemplify excellence in areas such as safety, project management, innovation and client satisfaction. This year the AGC named McKnight Construction first place for its work on the Junior Achievement Center in Columbia County and its renovations on the Bell Auditorium.
The construction of the new arena is on schedule, said Nations Group project manager Jon Rawlins, with its next major public milestone on the horizon.
“So we have steel mobilizing. They’ll start getting to erect the steel sometime late February, early March,” said Rawlins, which would eventually lead to a topping out ceremony, or the celebration of the final beam installed in the building structure. Rawlins said this top off should be “sometime at the end of June, early July.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering general reporting for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com
