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Looking at the future of North Augusta
5/13/2008 11:07 PM   0 comment(s) on this story E-mail this story to a friend

By SUZANNE R. STONE Staff writer
NORTH AUGUSTA -- The architects of the Augusta Tomorrow Inc. master plan had a chance to introduce themselves to those affected by their plan on the South Carolina side of the river Tuesday.
Augusta Tomorrow presented its ideas and solicited public input at a meeting Tuesday afternoon at the Public Safety Hut on Buena Vista Avenue. The meeting followed a successful first session Monday afternoon in Augusta, according to North Augusta City Manager Sam Bennett, who opened the meeting.
"They're here to learn from us," Bennett told the assembly.
The North Augusta City Council voted last fall to set aside funds in the city budget to put toward participation in Augusta Tomorrow's master plan study. The group created an Augusta-only master plan in 1982 which has seen 90 percent completion in the past 20 years.
The group began work 18 months ago on a revamped plan to include five surrounding counties, three in Georgia and two in South Carolina, with downtown Augusta and riverfront North Augusta as the region's urban core, according to Augusta Tomorrow master plan oversight task force chairman Braye Boardman.
"Augusta Tomorrow, with help in funding from North Augusta and Augusta, went out and solicited proposals from architectural master planning firms. We got over 27 proposals back from some of the top firms in the country, really internationally. After looking at those, we decided on ICON Architecture out of Boston. They have worked in Augusta and North Augusta before, and some of you will be familiar with them," Boardman said.
Boardman handed the meeting over to John Shields of ICON Architecture, who gave a 15-minute slide presentation introducing the firm's team working on the master plan project, maps showing the plan's coverage area and existing advantages and challenges of the area.
"We want a strong urban core that spans the Savannah River, and this study is about just that," Shields said. "A master plan is an opportunity to step back; it's kind of an artificial construct. It's an opportunity for us to take a few months, take a look at what we've got, reassess it and think about how we can grow in the next generation or two. In our minds it's an opportunity to reinvent, and I think both Augusta and North Augusta represent good examples of places where they have gone beyond evolution and really reinvented themselves from time to time."
The assembly divided up into three discussion groups, looking at work, play and life issues. Once discussions were completed, the meeting reassembled and group facilitators presented the top six suggestions from each group, as determined by anonymous vote of each group's members.
The work group's six suggestions included changes to blue laws, attracting and maintaining a good quality workforce, leveling the Augusta levee, transferring biotechnology to industry, a passenger or commuter railway to Columbia and Atlanta and financial incentives for the biotechnology industry.
Suggestions from the life group included encouraging high density residency coupled with good design, making quality public spaces and buildings available, maintaining the Savannah Bluff lock and dam, making any proposal realistic and fundable within a reasonable time frame, better security for Augusta and North Augusta and making efforts to preserve older homes and buildings.
The play group' suggestions included improving public awareness of the area's history and heritage, improving walking and biking trails to connect Augusta and North Augusta, making all events and facilities senior-friendly, creating a central hub to disseminate information on both cities and upcoming events, building a performing arts center and improving public access to the Savannah River on both sides.
"I'd like to say that when we started this project it seemed like it would be hard to find issues around which both cities can coalesce, and it's become easier and easier as we've gone along," said Shields.
Augusta Tomorrow plans to return with a proposal draft for further public discussion meetings in August, according to Shields. A master plan website is under development as a subset of www.augustatomorrow.org and should be operational within the next two weeks.
For more information about the master plan process, call the offices of Augusta Tomorrow Inc. at (706) 722-9100.
Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com



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