Column: Boathouse is going unloved
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And Pendleton King Park, the 64 acre bird sanctuary in midtown Augusta, with a documented 15,660 vehicles entering each month, needs TLC.
One of the 6 gardens within the Park was planted by Pendleton King before he went to WWI over 100 years ago. It’s an Augusta jewel. It’s our opportunity for the Garden City to have a public garden.
Many of Augusta’s Jewels are missing a Green Box Moment and it’s a shame. Why hasn’t the consulting firm hired to help Parks and Recreation not formulated a plan?
So true? I ask over and over, “Where is the plan??”, while City properties and facilities, that we pay taxes to have maintain, continue to fall into disrepair to the point they almost can’t be saved!
Well said, Mr. Clarke.
It makes me so sad and angry to see how the boathouse has been allowed to degrade through lack of maintenance for YEARS! I remember how great it was in the 90’s when the rowing events for the Olympics were held here – truly a shining moment for Augusta.
Now, our local rowing club can’t even get their gear out of there to have a simple meet, because the pipes were allowed to freeze in one of the recent cold snaps.
I ask over & over again – where is the basic MAINTENANCE that we pay for?! Where is Parks & Rec. sense of responsibility and accountability??
So to sell the boathouse has to go through a bid process? A strip mall on Laney Walker gets slipped to the land bank and sold off for under market value with no procurement/bid process? All the while the boathouse and other facilities in the county are still left unattended.
Will the Strip Club on Gordon HWY property have to go through procurement?
NO, NOT AS LONG AS THE CURRANT PURCHASING DIRECTOR HAS HER SAY SO.
She as crooked as they come, she needs to be gone.
The Boathouse needs to be sold to private investors. We can’t sit on properties that aren’t being maintained. I remember being in the meeting with former Commissioner Clarke when a few didn’t want to accept the offer of $1M.
It is neglected and will more than likely be sold to someone “connected” on the inside just like was done not to long ago..and around and around the corruption goes…
Sometimes you have to cut the pinky off to save the hand. Sell the unused properties, put the proceeds in the reserves and lessen the future liability of the city.
The “Diamond in the Rough” turned out to be a Lump of Coal. (This reminds me of a sitiation years ago at the airport when a company wanted to come in and provide a flight training service. As I recall, the city turned them down. Not sure what the reason was but that’s Augusta for you. They will always be backwards in their thinking. That’s why it’s so great living in this town.)
Excellent insight, Sir !! Spot On.
The Gang of Five is saving The Boathouse so Charles Walker can buy it from the Land Bank Authority for $35,000.
Catherine Smith is right. Sell the property to investors if not that tear it down!
The city needs to cut the Parks/Rec director loose. Nothing is taken care of or maintained within the city; which has been SOP for some time. The excuse of COVID is long gone and much overused. You are correct about the boathouse, add Olmstead stadium to the growing list of non- maintained properties; Diamond Lakes is a an absolute shame. This will just continue under the current watch. Litigation will increase due to poorly maintained sidewalks, curbing and bench’s around the city. Nothing was ever done regarding the trees cut at the commons after the director was specifically told not to cut. There is zero responsibility or consequence’s for those in charge.
The parking pits are never cleaned, the build up of trash, weeds and grass around the drains is disgusting. When it rains the stench is that of raw sewage. Litter is everywhere and NO ONE CARES, least of all the man in charge.