The power system for what will be the new Augusta Entertainment Complex — both the Bell Auditorium and the upcoming arena — is coming under way.
During last month’s Coliseum Authority meeting, Nations Group project manager Jon Rawls let board members know that workers were compacting the old arena’s basement before deep foundation work. Before that, during February’s meeting, Rawls had said that utility work, installing water, sewer and electrical, would follow this compaction process.
Tuesday afternoon’s meeting brought up that utility installation process, which will entail putting in what will be the main electrical service for the new complex and refeeding the service to the Bell Auditorium.
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“That work is just actually excavating down, putting in a duct bank and running conduit that will feed power from a new transformer pad,” said Rawls. The new transformer pad will be outside, in the west corner of the new arena lot, and hold four transformers to service the Bell and the rest of the arena.
Currently the Bell is powered via an underground utility vault. The duct bank and conduits to connect to the new transformers are already in place, Rawls explained. Once the concrete transformer pad is built, “Georgia Power comes out, drops new transformers, we make the connection, and then at that point, we shut off the power here to make the final connections,” he said, after which the existing vault will be removed.
Rawls expects this transfer to be complete within two months.
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Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
