Bulldozed but not forgotten: What’s ahead for the new downtown Augusta arena

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - With the old James Brown Arena gone and officials looking forward to getting started on its replacement, News 12 got a special hardhat tour of the site Tuesday.

Smooth sand and heavy construction equipment mark the location that used to host concerts and other large-scale entertainment events — and that will do so again someday.

The new arena will tower 10 stories tall, hosting about 100 events a year from musical and family productions to hockey games, officials said Tuesday.

It will offer a variety of options, including suites, box seating and party facilities.

And visitors can take in local flavors with some concessions featuring Augustans’ favorite restaurants.

For now, the site will stay flat and noisy as contractors are in the backfill and settlement phase, packing the foundation before the construction goes vertical in the coming months.

“Once we get done with this settlement period, which is a waiting period before you see anything happen, as we go into foundations and begin structural erection of the new arena, things will start to occur very fast again as well, and you’ll start to see a lot more personnel on site and a lot of equipment moving, a lot of heavy equipment moving, steel flying,” said Jon Rawlins, Nations Group project manager. “It’ll be an exciting time here come the end of this year and into 2026.”

The new arena will be linked to the nearby Bell Auditorium by a connector building that will house shared facilities like a box office and kitchen.

And leaders say the connector will be more than just a walk-through.

“So, there’ll be one main box office, which is one of the efficiencies of this building,” said Rawlins. “I mean, what’s great about this building is, you know, the offices, the box office, the kitchen, the loading dock, we only have one at this building. The efficiency this creates saves money, which is amazing. So, that connector will have all those items in it.”

Leaders said they expect the new 10,000-seat arena, funded by a voter-approved sales tax, to open in 2027.

“We’re right on time and on budget – that’s the main thing,” said Brad Usry of the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority.

He said the size of the arena will be just right for Augusta.

He said two different consulting firms performed studies, and both came up with that number of seats as optimal.

“We’ve never had an arena that sat 10,000 people that sold out,” he said Tuesday. “We’re gonna sell it out.”

And hockey fans will once again be able to enjoy the sport in Augusta, he said.

Officials aren’t ready to announce a team yet, but they’re working on a deal, and it will be a very exciting announcement when the time comes, Usry said.

Even before the new arena opens, it will be a boon to the local economy.

There will be 300 people working on it by springtime, Usry said, and they’ve all got to eat lunch.

Many will be from out of town and will be renting lodgings, he said.

Despite being demolished, the old James Brown Arena lives on, in a way.

Much of it was recycled. The seats, scoreboards and other fixtures were removed ahead of the demolition and either sold or given away.

All the concrete was ground up and used as a fill for the hole that was left.

And all the steel was recycled.

Other highlights

• They’re calling it the “new Augusta arena” for now instead of the new James Brown Arena. The name hasn’t been selected yet, with naming rights in play.
• Some earlier drawings will need to be updated because the plans are still evolving – for example, to ensure adequate parking.

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