The building at 1109 Broad St. is on its way to be the new location for Security Federal Bank.
“This is the city center of that historic downtown,” said Phil Wahl, president of Security Federal Bank. “This building, being a historic building, will serve the historic downtown district, and we’re excited about that.”
First constructed in the 1924, the 5,600 square-foot Beaux Arts-style building was initially the branch location of Georgia Railroad and Banking Company. Since 1993, it had been the site of the Augusta Genealogical Society and its Adamson Library.
Security Federal, based in Aiken, announced in 2018 that the building would be the location of its downtown Augusta branch. It acquired the building in 2019. However, the “Coming Soon” signs have stayed up longer than planned, with COVID-19 stifling progress on renovation in its earliest stages. Wahl says major work had not been done until October of last year, particularly demolition in the last few months.
“The work that was done was some cursory work,” said Wahl. “Just looking at what kind of asbestos remediation we were going to have, getting some, some ideas of that. Some of this took time because you’ve got to do it right.”
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The effect of the pandemic on acquiring tax credits for historical buildings also braked progress, Wahl says. Through the Georgia State Income Tax Credit Program for Rehabilitated Historic Property, participants can receive state income tax credit equaling 25% of qualifying rehabilitation expenses capped at amounts between $300,000 and $10 million for non-residential properties.
“The pandemic slowed down the process,” said Wahl. “Because you could get started, but you might do something that creates a problem with tax credits if you did something wrong. We had to go through that process and, of course, the federal government kind of shut down; everybody was going into work from home and remote and all that, so we really couldn’t get through that process like we had intended.”
Reconstruction has recommenced, and Wahl says the upcoming branch home will be a “mixture of old and new,” with a design reminiscent of its earlier look, video teller lines, pneumatic tube transports and even a replica of the tall clock that used to stand outside the building when it was owned by Georgia Railroad and Banking.
“I think we’re going to see that people realize that we’ve made an investment in downtown,” Wahl said. “We didn’t skimp on it. We didn’t go and try to get the cheapest building in that downtown. We got a building that we can be proud of, and the city can be proud of.”
Wahl says the renovations should be complete and the new Security Federal branch should be ready to open by the end of this year.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering education in Columbia County and business-related topics for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
