New additions coming to Riverside Village, Sharon Jones Amphitheater

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - North Augusta leaders want to add an expansion to Riverside Village.

The plan is to add more seats, restrooms, and a boat dock at the Sharon Jones Amphitheater. We spoke to some people, and they say the bathrooms are what they’re most excited about.

Iziah Smith has always lived in Augusta and comes to Riverside Village to walk with his family.

“We’re out here today because my wife is out here trying to get her 10,000 steps in, and it’s a nice safe place to be,” he said.

While he doesn’t have many complaints, he sees a need for bathrooms in the area.

“The bathrooms are a must,” he said. “You have to be able to have a bathroom that you can get to if you have an urgency or you have a condition or need to have to go.”

In addition to restrooms, the city is planning to add about 350 more seats to where the old sycamore tree used to stand in the center in hopes of drawing bigger crowds and acts to North Augusta.

City Councilman Eric Presnell says it’s all a part of a bigger plan.

“The restrooms will be more than just restrooms. It’s also a kind of a hangout room for some of the bands when they perform. When they come out here, you know, we have to rely on some of the restaurants giving them some space and things like that,” he said.

Presnell says the boat dock should be finished by the end of 2023.

“We’re really just waiting on some bids to come back, and we hope to have progress breaking on that fairly soon,” he said.

The city will pay for the restrooms and seating with a $150,000 grant, and other grants they’ll match with money from the Capital Sales Tax Project Fund.

“It would probably bring more people to the area to do more things,” said Smith.

The city council will have to vote on it and then get bids from contractors to get things rolling.

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