Augusta’s downtown beautification is a work in progress

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Crews are working fast to get downtown caught up in time for tournament week. A lot is going on between plating flowers and getting signs up.

But there’s still some graffiti, and parts of Riverwalk could use some brickwork.

While work is being done for a short-term solution, others hope this will fix a long-standing problem. We’ve been following both city and community efforts to project finished.

Parks and rec says maintenance of Richmond County’s most popular park is an ongoing effort, but others in the community are taking it into their own hands to help clean up.

“This is all a part of our quality of life in this city,” said Kevin de l’Aigle, Coalition for Action in Downtown Augusta.

At the end of 2022, he asked commissioners for help getting lights repaired on Greene Street and broken monuments repaired.

Former Mayor Hardie Davis pointed him toward philanthropy and the Coalition for Action in Downtown Augusta, CADA, was born.

“Easters coming. We want to get the cemeteries looking great. It just kind of snowballed from there, and we’re really pleased to see the response from the community,” he said.

They’ve grown to 180 members, mainly focusing on projects they can fix for $200 or less. So far, they’ve helped spruce up Magnolia Cemetery and fixed the Emily Tubman monument.

As for the city budget, Parks and rec is still developing a bigger plan for the Riverwalk using $1.2 million of city money approved by city leaders.

Parks and Rec Director Maurice McDowell said: “We don’t just focus in on Masters week. We try to make sure to utilize the resources that we’re given to keep these parks and all of our parcels and areas that we maintain up to par.”

Phase one will spend $300,000 to fix and repair electrical and other issues at Saturday market.

While it’s unclear when Parks and rec will reveal the first part of their Riverwalk plan, CADA says they’ll be holding multiple cleanings on the first two weekends following Masters week.

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