Sharing information, securing funding and showing the plans for the new James Brown Arena to the Historic Preservation Commission will be topics for several meetings during August and September.
H.B. Brantley, project manager on the new JBA project, told members of the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority the first meeting will be on Aug. 30. Brantley and authority chairman Cedric Johnson are on the agenda to present for the Augusta Regional Transportation Study.
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Brantley said, “It’s part of our federal funding request, the $5 million we’ve requested. We have to go through the ARTS process in terms of getting it on the Transportation Improvement Project.”
Just a day later, area contractors and builders are invited to a construction outreach meeting so they can see the scale, scope and the timing of the project.
“So, when we get started with the project, in anticipation of the funding getting approved on Nov. 2, we’ll be able to engage the construction community next year and get some competitive bids. If you don’t activate the construction community, then you don’t get that level of interest,” Brantley explained.
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Johnson said the meeting is important because they want to get as many local businesses to participate as possible. Brantley said since this project was announced in 2020, they’ve been hearing from contractors. Information from those contractors has been collected and the time has come to meet with them.
The Aug. 31 meeting will be in the Bell Auditorium from 3 – 5 p.m. Contractors from across Georgia have been invited to attend to meet with the project management team and the architects.
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The meeting with the Historic Preservation Commission will be on Sept. 23. Part of the commission’s responsibility is to preserve the overall historic character and architectural heritage in historically significant neighborhoods or districts. Architect Nick Dickinson said that as a government entity, the Coliseum Authority is exempt from needing commission approval. However, the authority wants to include the commission in the project.
Historic Preservation Commission meetings begin at 5:30 p.m. and are held in the Linda Beazley Meeting Room of the Augusta Municipal Building.
More information about the arena project 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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