The 2024 list of endangered properties was released on Oct. 24 by Historic Augusta, Inc. and includes mainly private homes along Wrightsboro Road, the Sand Hills neighborhood and downtown Augusta.
One particular landmark that topped the list is the former First Baptist Church, located on Greene Street in the downtown historic district. The building was first placed on the list in 2014, but was dropped after the building sold in 2017.
The structure was built in 1902 on the site where the Southern Baptist Convention was formed in 1845.
The original congregation vacated the property in 1975, and it was only sparsely occupied over the following decades.
Historic Augusta’s report notes that the dome has not been replaced and stated in the report, “(I)f action is not taken soon, the structure is at risk of hitting the point of no return.”
The building was purchased by Joe Edge in 2017. Edge is the president of Sherman and Hemstreet Realty and publisher of The Augusta Press. According to Edge, he has made significant investments in securing and mothballing the building.
“The structure is waterproof. We put a brand new roof on the Sunday School areas of the building, and it is secure. Homeless people are constantly camping on the front porch, but they cannot access the interior of the building,” Edge said.
Edge says that an engineering study he paid for found that the dome on the building is structurally sound, but replacement of the entire dome requires specialized workmanship and that he was quoted a price of $100,000 to simply install a tarp over the dome and surrounding roof area.
An undisclosed group has shown interest in spending upwards of $10 million to renovate the building totally and turn it into event space, according to Edge.
“You can’t take 50 years worth of neglect and decay and reverse all of that in five years,” Edge said.
The Historic Augusta Inc. report also centered on structures in the Sand Hills neighborhood that are good candidates for rehabilitation. Many of the unsavable homes in the area have already been demolished and developers have begun to show interest in redeveloping the historic area.
The report also noted that several structures along James Brown Boulevard have been saved, are under renovation and will be repurposed soon.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
