Downtown is safe, so enjoy it this weekend, Augusta mayor says
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Nearly a week after a shooting shocked the downtown Augusta community, the mayor is urging people to come out this weekend.
“We have exciting events downtown, great restaurants to try, and lots of fun to be had,” Mayor Garnett Johnson said. “Please know, our downtown is safe.”
He points out that stepped-up patrols will start Friday night with the assistance of the state.
The shooting last Saturday sent three people to hospitals – including one of the suspects, who was shot by deputies.
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After the shooting, Johnson asked for the state’s help and got a commitment from the Georgia State Patrol and Georgia Department of Natural Resources to bolster the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office’s efforts.
GSP officers “will be downtown and throughout our city,” Johnson said.
“As a reminder to our parents, most downtown restaurants stop serving food at 10 p.m. Minors should be accompanied by an adult after that time,” he said.
He also said bar patrons should to use a designated driver.
The mayor’s statement came a day after we checked with the Downtown Development Authority about how it’s keeping downtown businesses happy and promoting growth in light of the recent shooting.
Augusta’s downtown business owners are remaining vocal after Saturday’s shootings.
Many of them showed up to the press conference to talk to Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree.
A big question now is: “How is Augusta keeping businesses happy, while also expanding downtown growth?”
In 2023, nearly 50 new businesses and 4 million people came to experience downtown Augusta.
This is a trend that the Downtown Development Authority wants to see continue.
“Already two new restaurants have opened up in the last couple of weeks. We have two that are getting ready to go under construction, ribbon cuttings, groundbreakings are all over the calendar for the summer. So, downtown is really doing well and our future is bright,” said Executive Director Margaret Woodard.
That’s because they have kept the same goal on the menu.
“That’s what we want. What can we do to make it seamless and make it a great place where everyone’s going to want to come,” said Woodard.
Woodard believes if they can make it through the COVID-19 pandemic, they can make it through anything. She says the last four years are proof of that.
“The pandemic did kind of put a hitch in things that made us all a little bit nervous, but boy did we survive that, and coming out, you know, smelling like a rose really,” said Woodard.
Woodard says there is plenty to look out for in regards to downtown Augusta.
“You may get a new housing announcement in the next few weeks, and then of course, we’re trying to get the Lamar building under construction, and we’re working on that deal as well. That would be 78 new market-rate apartments, right on Broad Street,” she said.
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