UPW
URBAN PRO WEEKLY DECEMBER 17 - 31, 2019 VOL. 9 NO. 3
Jesse Norman’s Legacy of Excellence Jessye Norman was a local celebrity who performed at the highest level
The Depot Project: Next Level Development — or Desolation Row
A view of the historic old train depot on Reynolds Street, site of a proposed $94 million development that has stalled down at city hall. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
UrbanProWeekly DECEMBERR 18 - 31, 2019
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Unity Breakfast to feature keynote speaker Omeeka P. Loggins The 23rd Annual Rev. Brother Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Breakfast will take place on Monday, January 20, 2020 at 7:30 a.m., at the Oglethorpe Ballroom of the Augusta Marriott Hotel at the Convention Center. The Honorable Omeeka P. Loggins, State Court Solicitor General will be the keynote speaker. The Bert T. Thomas Unity Award will be presented to an individual or community organization who during the past year has worked toward making Dr. King’s dream of brotherhood/sisterhood and racial harmony a reality. The Lee N. Beard Humanitarian Award will also be presented. The event is sponsored by the Phil H. Waring Memorial Education Foundation and the members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Alpha Chi Lambda Chapter. Tickets may be purchased at www.alphachilambda1935.org
American Rhythms Saturday, January 18 | 7:30pm Miller Theater Augusta Symphony Dirk Meyer, Music Director Clayton Stephenson, Piano
The Honorable Omeeka P. Loggins, State Court Solicitor General will be the keynote speaker at the Jan. 20, 2020 MLK Jr. Unity Breakfast.
UPW Urban Pro Weekly Hephzibah, GA 30815
Clayton Stephenson
AGUILA The Giant Guitar GERSHWIN Piano Concerto in F COPLAND Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo AGUILA The Fall of Cuzco Four works by American composer Miguel del Aguila that are full of Latin rhythms, beautiful melodies, and raw power. Call the Box Office at 706-842-4080 ext 1.
URBAN PRO WEEKLY
Publisher URBAN PRO WEEKLY MEDIA 706-306-4647 urbanpromedia@yahoo.com
CEO / Sales FREDERICK BENJAMIN SR. 706-306-4647 editor@urbanproweekly.com
Contributors VINCENT HOBBS Photography & New Media
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The historic old train depot on Reynolds Street is the site of a proposed $94 million downtown development project. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
‘High flying’ Depot Project hits the skids By Frederick Benjamin Sr. • Urban Pro Weekly Staff Writer
A YEAR AGO, THE FACEBOOK PAGE FOR AUGUSTA TOMORROW ASKED: “HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEWS? THE DOWNTOWN TRAIN DEPOT ON REYNOLDS STREET AND 6TH STREET IS GOING TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO A HUGE MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT WITH APARTMENTS, OFFICES, RETAIL AND LOTS OF OPEN GREEN SPACE.” What a difference a year makes. The project dubbed “Riverfront at the Depot, burst into the community’s consciousness with a slick animated video worthy of a Vegas gambling palace. It was followed up with plenty of appropriate verbiage like mixed-use, green space, retail space, apartments, public oases, and sported a $94 million price tag. The project had the backing of the mayor, the mayor pro tem and a host of downtown booster types all singing the praises of the best of all possible worlds. The daily newspaper, game for any sort of riverfront development, chastised any sitting commissioners who dared to even think of derailing the project. The game was so tantalizing that the city, early on, chimed in with a $14 million pledge to get things moving in the right direction. But while, getting that commitment didn’t take much arm twisting, the enthusiastic support of a majority of the commissioners was another matter altogether. The developers, Bloc Global and their local handlers the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) have been getting a healthy dose of skepticism from a cadre of city legislators — foremost among them have been Commissioners Ben Hasan and Sammy Sias. Several other commis-
sioners have indicated that they also need more details on some aspects of the project. Recently, the DDA, the developers, the commissioners and the mayor met during a marathon “executive session” meeting to iron out differences and clarify certain points. In the wake of that meeting, Commissioner Hasan briefed the media on what was accomplished. Basically, Hasan feels that the city is being asked to take unwarranted risks by offering the $14 million without certain guarantees. Why unwarranted? Hasan pointed out that while the developers have scaled back nearly half of their initial proposal, it has not asked the city to lessen its commitment. More importantly, Hasan asserted, the developers have not followed through with the simplest requests for assurances that would protect the city. For instance, the developers have yet to provide the city with a proforma or a site plan for the project. A proforma analysis is a set of calculations that projects the financial return that a proposed real estate development is likely to create. It then estimates revenues that are likely to be obtained, the costs that will have to be incurred, and the net financial
return that the developer expects to achieve. Hasan added that he has not seen any evidence that the developer has the backer needed to secure the bank financing without using the city’s commitment as collateral. But, a real sticking point for Hasan and other opponents of the project, is that the developers won’t commit to the second phase of the project?
“There is no agreement on what the second phase would look like. Phase I is $49 million and they wanted to downgrade it to $42 million,” Hasan said. While both sides of the project agreed to the need to “renegotiate” some of the terms of any partnership, the slope is getting more slippery each passing week without a reasonable resolution.
The “Depot” along Reynolds Street in downtown Augusta may escape the wrecking ball if the Depot Project can’t get off the ground. Photo by Vincent Hobbs.
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IN REMEMBRANCE
Jessye Norman: In her own words
I
am the joy and the pride of my maternal grandmother, looking out over a front yard overflowing with grandchildren. I am the steady and stern glance of my paternal grandfather, and the upbeat whistle pushing past my father’s lips as he enjoys a ride in his very first car, that green, two-door Chevrolet. I am the warmth of my mother as she speaks the letters of the word Mississippi in rhythm, her special way of making spelling lessons more fun. They are all in my DNA: their beautiful blood, rich with the determination, the songs, the hope, the heartbreak, and the strength of my people, stretching back past the cocoon of my childhood home in Augusta, Georgia, beyond the most storied concert halls, beyond the earth’s surface, beyond, even the nurturing glow of the African sun. Because they were, I am. My ancestors’ gift of song rustled the leaves of gnarled southern oaks and pines, whispered between the rows of the fields they tilled, danced in the winds just beyond the ocean’s ripple, above the waters that brought my people and my blood to these shores. I am all who have made me: Mother Africa, the hills of Georgia, and these United States. My gift is uniquely my own, and yet it is also all of this. I pay homage to those who nurtured and
nourished me. I stretch out and wrap my arms around them.
with an image of the great singer. I was quite proud to have my very own copy.
On MUSIC If you ask me outright, I always say singing and speaking became a part of me at the same time. . . I cannot recall a period in my life when I was not singing — when music was not at the center of all that I enjoyed. But it was the radio that informed this little girl in Augusta, Georgia, of a much wider world — made me know, for sure, that music was bigger than the voices I heard i my house, on my grandparents’ farm, or in my town. I was all of ten or eleven years old when this revelation flowed through that brown and beige radio, my very own radio in my very own bedroom. There were the voices of Nat “King” Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Washington, the music of Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and Louis Armstrong, the Tommy Dorsey band, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Mahalia Jackson. They all spoke to me — captivated my ears and my senses. I can still remember a day when I heard Nat “King” Cole sing the beautiful song “Stardust.” I asked my parents to purchase the sheet music for me, and they obliged happily. The cover of the sheet music was cloud-blue
On OPERA I simply loved the whole idea of an opera performance. And as the dreams of children know no bounds, I thought about singing this music — certainly not as a profession, but simply singing it because it was beautiful to me and I loved it as much as I loved listening to the music of everybody else on my radio. I remember thinking that opera stories were not very different from other stories: a boy meets a girl, they fall in love, they cannot be together for some reason, and most of the time it does not end happily ever after. For me, opera stories were grown-up versions of stories that were familiar to me already. The way I felt about opera as a child was no different from how I feel about opera now.
An International Opera Star NEW YORK Jessye Norman, the renowned international opera star whose passionate soprano voice won her four Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honor, died on September 30, 2019. She was 74. She died at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York, and was surrounded by loved ones. Norman’s funeral was held in Augusta on Saturday, Oct. 12. Norman was a trailblazing performer, and one of the rare AfricanAmerican singers to attain worldwide stardom in the opera world, performing at such revered houses as La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera, and singing title roles in works such as “Carmen,” ‘’Aida” and more. She sang the works of Wagner, but was not limited to opera or classical music, performing songs by Duke Ellington and others as well.
On EARLY INFLUENCES The good music that I sang as a child included children’s songs, hymns learned at the church, and, of course, Spirituals. My enthusiasm for good music only increased in the choir stands of Mount Calvary Baptist Church and in the school choruses at C.T. Walker Elementary, A.R. Johnson Junior High School, and Lucy C. Laney High. In 1997, at age 52, Norman became the youngest person ever to earn the Kennedy Center Honor at the time. The Honorees, standing from left are Bob Dylan, Lauren Bacall, and Edward Villella. Sitting, Norman and Charlton Heston. The recipients were honored by a dinner at the State Department on Dec. 6, 1997. (Photo: BRIAN K. DIGGS, AP)
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MAKIN’ A DIFFERENCE COMMENTARY by Ken Makin WE NEED LEADERS THAT CARE ABOUT RESIDENTS — PROACTIVELY
Tired of Augusta’s S —!
This year marks the 10th year that I’ve been covering and writing commentaries about the city of Augusta. This past July, I celebrated my 36th trip around the sun, a journey that began in the old St. Joseph’s Hospital in Augusta, Ga. Not that I need those qualifiers, but when I say this, understand that I am speaking as a native Augustan — I am tired of Augusta’s s—! Normally, that would be a figurative statement. Last week, it became a literal statement after severe flooding caused nearly a million and a half pounds of sewage to spill into Augusta’s streets and waterways. You know how Augustans hate the name “Disgusta”? Well, it’s hard to shake that name with this type of mess. Flooding, as we all know, is one of Augusta’s biggest challenges. It has been a challenge for generations, and the mostly Black districts of Augusta have suffered through it most pro-
foundly. It’s one thing to deal with flooding, though. It’s an entirely different thing to deal with the s— that comes with the flooding. I’ve talked to former and current city officials about the issue. Most agree that this is a problem specifically for Augusta Utilities Department to solve. It also bears mentioning that city residents are paying a little more in taxes in the form of a stormwater fee to try to alleviate flooding concerns. Whether you’re mad at the folks in utilities or feel helpless that the stormwater revenue isn’t doing more, one thing is absolutely certain — this problem didn’t happen overnight, and it won’t be solved overnight, either. More than human excrement and waste, that’s the s— I’m tired of when it comes to Augusta. I’m sure you are, as well. It’s frustrating to live in a town where our leaders are not proactive, but reactive. It’s frustrating
LETTERS
Local talk-show host feeling rejected?
Psychologists agree being rejected can incite negative feelings and emotions. This could explain the on-air unhinged criticisms of Sheriff Richard Roundtree by radio host Austin Rhodes. Rhodes alleges he is not permitted media access to the sheriff’s office because he is disliked by Sheriff Roundtree. Nonsense! Sheriff Roundtree is a capable, confident sheriff who does not need Austin’s praise, friendship or validation. Furthermore, Austin Rhodes has no credentials which Sheriff Roundtree is
bound to respect. Nevertheless, this is the Christmas season and miracles do happen. Perhaps, this Christmas Austin Rhodes will receive the gift of Sheriff Roundtree’s respect and friendship. Maybe this will inspire a jubilant Rhodes to serenade his radio listeners with a Christmas carol: On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five golden rings; four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and respect from Richard Roundtree. Kevin Palmer, Evans, GA
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to live in a city that brags about being one of the largest cities in Georgia, yet comes up small when we need them the most. You’re reading this column, and you might be laughing at the headline and the commentary. Laughter is good, because it keeps us from crying. The truth is, Augusta is more than a laughingstock. In this case, it’s a liquid landfill. It’s so much of a health risk that the Savannah Riverkeeper, Tonya Bonitatibus, is telling folks to stay out of the water. Sewage doesn’t just equal stink, it also equals bacteria and disease. City officials say they have infrastructure projects in place to improve the sewer system, but that sounds like old news, and I honestly understand if you think the whole thing stinks to high heaven. The solution is “simple” for some people — move the heck out of Augusta. That solution isn’t feasible
for a lot of folks, and a lot of those folks look like me — beautiful and brown-skinned. This city needs to clean up its act. We need leadership that cares about residents — PROACTIVELY. We have to attack these issues with the urgency that we have for that ol’ golf tournament in the spring. When you think about the poverty in our town, and the added risk of sewage, it becomes a matter of life and death. Plus, all of us can’t just pack up our s— and leave, right? Oh, and don’t worry. When I said “s—“ all those times, I meant “stuff.” What did you think I meant? :) Ken J. Makin is the host of the “Makin’ A Difference” show. Episodes are available at soundcloud.com/ makinadifference. Send your feedback to makinadifferenceshow@ gmail.com or send a text to (803) 270-2331. Your feedback could be a part of the next column!
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GEMS, Delta Alumnae donate to Toys for Tots
On Saturday, December 14, the GEMS (Growing Empowering Myself Successfully) of the Augusta Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta presented approximately 90 toys to Marine CWO3 (Ret) Gregory Smith, Asst Director of Toys for Tots. The GEMS and members of Augusta Alumnae donated the new, unwrapped toys for use
by needy children throughout the Central Savannah River Area. A program of the Marine Corps Reserve, the toy drive ends on December 23. The presentation was one part of the GEMS’ December program on Healthy Living. They also got an exhilarating physical workout, led by
Fonda Washington, Fitness Professional at South Augusta Family YMCA. Afterwards, Soror Sondra Roundtree, Nutritionist, led a discussion on developing healthy eating habits. Soror Lauren Trammell, Licensed Associate Professional Counselor, gave an overview of mental health issues affecting teenagers.
Augusta among Top 10 Digital City Governments
Along the Savannah by Linda Hardy
Exhibition Opening Reception
LINDA HARDY Thursday, January 9, 5:00 - 7:00 pm Sacred Heart Cultural Center, 1301 Greene Street Dr. Linda Hardy grew up in Columbia, Missouri, moving to Augusta in 1979 to complete her residency training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Medical College of Georgia. She maintained a medical practice in Augusta, both at MCG and in private practice, until her retirement. Always an admirer of art, after retirement she began taking lessons, in oil, from David Mascaro. Currently, she is a member of the Mascaro Art Group, a co-op of painters, many of whom had also been students of Mr. Mascaro. She now works nearly exclusively in acrylics, which better fits her loose, rapid style
of painting. She has participated in exhibits and juried art competitions across the CSRA and is represented locally by Art on Broad in Augusta. This exhibit consists primarily of landscapes painted from photographs, memory, or imagination of the Augusta area, particularly the Savannah River and the Georgia and South Carolina lowcountry and salt marshes. Dr. Hardy resides in Augusta with her husband, Dr. Arlie Fiveash, two dogs, a cat and a bunny. Art on exhibit through February 28, 2020 • Free & Open to the Public
For the, ninth year, the City of Augusta ranked among the top ten digital city governments as announced by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government and Digital Communities Program. The Information Technology Department ranked #9 in the mid-sized category for cities with a population between 125,000 to 249,999. This is the sixth time that Augusta is the only Georgia municipality to be recognized in this category. The annual survey recognizes cities using technology to improve citizen services, enhance transparency and encourage citizen engagement. “Congratulations to this year’s Digital Cities winners, who are working to make their communities more secure, user-friendly, efficient and resilient,” said Teri Takai, executive director of the Center for Digital Government. “ The focus of this year’s survey takes a much more holistic review of how efficiently the overall government is embracing and utilizing technology. Augusta received recognition because of its continued dedication to making government accessible for residents and providing resources for additional transparency. “The Information Technology Department looks forward to continuing our partnership with other city agencies to improve Augusta’s services through technology,” said Tameka Allen, Director of Information Technology.
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