Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson is moving forward with one of his major campaign promises of pumping new life in Augusta’s riverfront.
At a press conference on Friday, July 25, Johnson proposed his plan to “reimagine” the Riverwalk. According to Johnson, the plan will cost somewhere between $18 to $23 million, paid for by reallocated monies as well as funding from SPLOST 9, if that measure is passed by taxpayers.
“This is a shovel-ready project and we can have it all done within two years, if we go ahead and get started,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s plan would extend the Riverwalk further into East Augusta, repair the electricity service and boat slips at the Augusta Marina and restore the Boathouse from the ground up.
“We will be stripping down to its bare bones and rebuilding it completely to be the jewel it once was. I have been inside the building and while it needs a lot of work, it is structurally sound at its core,” Johnson said.
Johnson says that he wants the Riverwalk to be restored to its original vision with new additions, adding that the timing comes on the heels of the Augusta Commission adding the names of former mayors Ed McIntyre and Charles DeVaney, both of whom made major contributions to building the riverfront structure in the late 1980s.
Fourteen million dollars has already been set aside for a parking deck at the old Depot property once used by Unisys. However, Unisys has moved out of its Port Royal location and Johnson says that since Unisys no longer uses the parking spaces already there, the promised parking deck becomes much less of a priority.
“This is money that has been allocated and is just sitting there, we also have $1 million set aside to ‘mothball’ the Boathouse. We could use that money to restore the building instead and make it available for weddings and special events like they used to have there almost every weekend,” Johnson said.
Along with the re-allocated monies, the mayor is proposing SPLOST outlays in the amount of $ 8 million for Riverwalk/Boathouse upgrades and an additional $3 million for the extension of the park.
The reimagined Boathouse will still be available to the Augusta Rowing Club and Johnson says he hopes that the restored building will help attract even more regatta events in the future.
Johnson says that a rejuvenated Riverwalk will once again draw residents and families along with out-of-town visitors and that will go a long way to convince the criminal element to find another place to go.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter, Editorial Page Editor and weekly columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
