Augusta may soon erect a new marker commemorating one of the city’s most historic visitors.
Erick Montgomery, executive director of Historic Augusta, is presenting a request Tuesday to install a marker honoring the Marquis de Lafayette.
The French aristocrat who fought against the British in the American Revolution visited Augusta in March 1825 as part of his farewell tour of the United States.
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Communities around the nation, many of them now named for Lafayette, are celebrating the 200th anniversary of his final tour, during which he was widely regaled.
In Augusta, the city constructed an arch over Broad Street and a wide platform on Greene Street for an elaborate banquet and ball.
According to published reports, Lafayette was greeted with a speech in English by Mayor William Holt, as well as a speech in French.
Montgomery’s request is to install the marker on Greene Street, near the site of the former city hall where the banquet was held. The location is by the former front of Augusta Municipal Building.
The sign would sit between the building and the Signers’ Monument, which honors Georgia’s three signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Augusta has an existing marker, erected in 1962 by the Georgia Historical Commission, commemorating Lafayette’s visit. It is located at the corner of Jones Street and McArtan Street. There is also Lafayette Center, a 1980s redevelopment project located in the 900 block of Broad Street.
In other action Tuesday, several items go before the full commission without a committee recommendation from last week. They include:
- Hiring UHY Advisors Mid-Atlantic to conduct an audit of the city Parks and Recreation Department. Some commissioners took issue last week with the last-minute appearance of UHY in procurement documents at a much lower price of $71,664, after a prior low bid came in at $141,365.
- Prior to his securing a vote on all commission agenda items July 1, Mayor Garnett Johnson has requested the city ask the Carl Vinson Institute of Government to assist with creating a charter review committee. Creating a review committee to revisit the 1996 Consolidation Act was one action Johnson said he’d undertake after gaining a commission vote, which Augusta voters approved in a May 21 referendum.
