Sept. 28 - Oct. 25, 2017 • The CSRA’s monthly business Magazine
Health of Marriage Affects Worker Performance Pages 20-21
New Civic Center in South Augusta?
A vestige of the Montgomery Ward sign can still be seen on part of the Regency Mall in South Augusta. The Regency Mall site has been proposed as the location for a new civic center to replace the current James Brown Arena (inset). Photo by Gary Kauffman
Business Leaders Discuss Effects of Proposed Location Editor’s Note: In August, the AugustaRichmond County Coliseum Authority voted to locate a new civic center at the site of the defunct Regency Mall in South Augusta to replace the aging James Brown Arena. Most people had expected the site to be downtown, as recommended by a consultant study. The Augusta Commission still has to approve the coliseum authority’s proposal, but the decision has already generated controversy. Here, five local business leaders weigh in with their views.
By Witt Wells
Josh Pierce has lived and worked in Augusta for too long to view his downtown
community as anything less than family. When across-the-street sushi restaurant Sole needs avocados, Whiskey Bar, where Pierce is the general manager, gives them avocados. That’s how downtown works these days, Pierce said. That didn’t come easily. As Pierce reflects on the time it took to turn downtown into the vibrant scene it is today, he pays homage to the vision that people like Soul Bar and Sky City owner Coco Rubio have had for the area for years. So, Pierce doesn’t take the pending decision for a location of Augusta’s new civic center lightly. He doesn’t think any-
one should. I talked to Pierce and a few other business leaders in the downtown area and in South Augusta – many of them in the food and beverage industry, a vital element of local entertainment – not only about the importance of local businesses to the success of a civic center, but how those businesses create communities. Here’s what a handful of businesspeople around town had to say about the location Augusta’s new civic center: Larry Sconyers, owner, Sconyers BBQ in South Augusta When you weigh the pros and cons of a
new civic center location, what factors do you think about? I think saying it has to be in a particular spot, that’s not really a necessity. If you think about what you see in Atlanta stadiums – SunTrust Park – they’ve got a whole lot of businesses and restaurants Sconyers in and around the stadium itself. Take Riverside Village (in North Augusta) – it’s going to be a total comSee CIVIC on Page 2