Fewer than 20 citizens attended a Thursday night meeting to collect input on where to build a new public safety headquarters and court offices.
The city has two possible locations; one on East Buena Vista Avenue near the current headquarters, the other known as the Flythe/Seven Gables property on Georgia Avenue. That site proposal has been met with some resistance. City Administrator Jim Clifford began the meeting with a summary of the advantages and drawbacks of each location, then opened the floor for comments opposing the site on Georgia Avenue.
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First to speak was Fred Ilardi, who said the city should use the Georgia Avenue property in a way that preserves the historic nature of the site. The property originally was the location of a hunting lodge built by North Augusta’s founder, James U. Jackson. The lodge supported visitors to another Jackson property, the Hampton Terrace Hotel, that was lost in a 1916 fire.
Ilardi suggested another location, the Medac building on Bluff Avenue, a 60,000 square foot building that he said half of which is up for rent.
“If we were really considering it, we could get it fairly cheap. It’s about $15 a square foot,” he said. “It would cost us considerably less than the interest it’s going to cost on the loan we’re going to take.”
Clifford said, “Theoretically you could put a government facility or function in that building. The downside is you’re getting roughly $100,000 a year in tax revenue that serves the TIF (Tax Increment Financing), which pays the bond payments for Riverside Village.”
He also believes it is not a wise investment to rent a public safety headquarters, and that the site should be owned by the government.
Also opposing the Georgia Avenue location was Ken Powell. He wants the city to take a second look at the original site on East Buena Vista Avenue. That was the original plan, presented to council in September 2020. Since then, site and construction costs have increased by about $850,000 more than the alternate location.
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After the two opposing views were heard, Clifford called on people who had concerns about the Seven Gables property, such as impact on traffic.
Mark Newell of Historic North Augusta said using that property for the public safety headquarters will mean two of the historic buildings remaining on the site will be preserved for use by community groups and non-profit organizations.
He said, “On the other hand, if you sell the property, it’s my understanding developers have already contacted you. What kind of development is likely to go on that location and would that give us the option to work with the developer to split off or buy the property that contains the two buildings?”
Clifford said he has been contacted by several developers interested in the Georgia Avenue site.
“It went through a pretty wide range, some I thought were more serious than others,” he said. “The American Kennel Club asked about a portion of the property for their use, and also a senior living facility out of Florida that would use all the land. A different developer contacted us about putting townhomes in. Their intent would be to have full use of that property.”
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A total of six residents offered comments. Clifford said the item will be on the agenda for discussion at Monday’s council meeting.
There is a website where more information about the project is available. That webpage is found here.
North Augusta has another major public safety project already underway, construction of a new fire station on Martintown Road at Observatory Avenue.
MORE: Costs Spiraling for New North Augusta Public Safety Headquarters
An update has been posted to the city’s website announcing steel beams have arrived. As the beams are set up, the building will begin taking shape. The groundbreaking for the project was in January 2021. Target completion date is spring 2022.
Additional information is available here.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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