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Letters to the Editor
Dozen Roses $29
Downtown Stadium Addresses “Big Picture” Dear Editor, I think David Moretz proposed an excellent idea for a new stadium. Don’t get me wrong; the Lake Olmstead stadium is a beautiful venue. I should know, as I am one of the fans you’ll see there many home games. Our current stadium’s price tag was approximately one-fifth of some other cities’ stadiums. Why (or how) does one of the largest MSA’s in Georgia continue to under-develop almost everything it touches? It sounds like a Catch-22 when it comes to luring new business to the area. I can hear the sales pitch right now: “We’re not a very big city, and we don’t have many attractions, but if you move here, we’ll look into adding some things like that.” Augusta, it’s time to start putting your money where your mouth is.
We need to look at the “big picture” for Augusta and develop plans congruent to socio-economic improvement through means of increased tourism and gentrification. These things do not happen overnight or without area attractions; people do not go out of their way to see (or live in) cities that offer nothing exciting or out of the ordinary. Imagine a possible downtown Augusta in 10 years with a beautifully landscaped Riverwalk that serves as the hub to all things downtown. Within walking distance you could have the new baseball stadium, Augusta Golf and Gardens, Springfield Village Park, the Morris Museum of Art, Augusta Commons, the National Science Center, Artists’ Row and plenty of restaurants, hotels and nightlife venues. Other cities such as Greenville, Savannah and Charleston
S P I R I T
Mixed Colors
have exactly this; a large number of fun things to do in a small space. If space permits, then a stadium next to the Augusta Golf and Gardens would be a wonderful attraction. The whole point is so that people stay around the area near the stadium. If you alienate the stadium geographically, then once the game is over, the people leave. Regardless, downtown needs to be developed so that people will want to congregate. Kudos to Augusta Tomorrow (www.augustatomorrow.com) for a great start (i.e. Augusta Common). Two axioms come to mind. If you build it, they will come. If you don’t build it, you’ll never know.
A U G 7 405 Shartom Drive, Augusta 706-868-9318 www.ladybugsflowers.com Augusta Business Center behind Applebee's on Washington Rd.
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— J. Morris, lifetime Augusta resident
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