It was built to be impenetrable, and demolition crews are finding the Old Law Enforcement Center at 401 Walton Way to be a formidable opponent in their efforts to tear it down.
Not only does the building’s strength make it tough to dismantle, it was one of the chief causes for the building to be abandoned long before it should have reached obsolescence. According to news reports at the time, the building was to have had a minimum of a 50-year lifespan.
The Walton Way jail tower, along with its surrounding complex, was completed in 1985 but would only serve only 27 years of its intended purpose. The jail tower was decommissioned on Jan. 7, 2014, according to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office website.
In the early 2000s, the building developed a serious leak in the basement due to plumbing that was encased in concrete, and the moisture eventually created a serious mold problem throughout the workspace areas. Employees with allergy issues had to work in a portable building outside on orders of their doctors, according to a report in The Augusta Press on Oct. 10, 2021.
The loss of administrative space and continuing issues with the plumbing in the jail prompted the city to build a new Sheriff’s Office building across the street and to move inmates over to the Charles B. Webster Detention Facility on Phinizy Road.
For years, the structure sat empty with the Augusta Commission unsure exactly what to do with a building.
The Augusta Commission voted 8-2 at the July 28, 2020 meeting to demolish the building, according to commission meeting records, but the actual progress demolition lingered for over a year.
Former Superior Court Chief Judge Carl Brown favored moving Juvenile Court into the facility, but that would have involved maintaining the massive tower as well as the suite of offices just to run the small court rooms on the first and second floor.
The building almost gained a new life as several film companies used the building as a film set. The blockbuster movie “The Suicide Squad” featured the building; however, the city would have had to continue maintenance on the building for it to be used only a handful of times throughout the year for movie purposes.
At the time, Commissioner John Clarke lamented its loss.Clarke, who tried in vain to save the building, says that it was shortsightedness that led to the demolition of a building that even he concedes is “ugly.”
“Augusta is now demolishing what was the heart of the film industry here with no future plans for the location. I t’s sad, really, that’s all I can say. It’s sad,” Clarke said in the October 2021 article.
But the mold issue and its abatement was never fully solved. Areas of the basement were sealed off, but continual problems with leaky pipes played a large role in sealing the building’s doom, according to the same October 2021 article.
Calls placed to Thompson Wrecking Co., the company responsible for the demolition work, were not returned. However, it seems the company decided against an implosion to bring down the tower.
Instead of blowing up the structure, cranes are picking the tower apart bit by bit. Most of the work isn’t visible to those traveling by on Gordon Highway, but it is from the Fourth Street side.
Meanwhile, city officials have not released any statements about the future of what will shortly be a vacant lot.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
