The intergovernmental agreement between the Augusta Commission and the Augusta-Richmond Coliseum Authority has been signed.
Authority Chairman, Cedric Johnson confirmed for ABD he signed the document. It creates the pipeline to receive funds from the half-penny sales tax approved by voters in November 2023.
“Approval by the Commission opens the doorway for us to get those funds,” he said. “Without that agreement, any SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) goes straight to the city. So, we do have an agreement on how we would handle the funds.”
One of the first steps will be to finalize a contract with Nations Group. The Arizona-based firm will be the authority’s representative as the project moves forward.
Nations Group has been working under a short-term agreement, pending the approval of the intergovernmental agreement, clearing the way for a long-term contract.
“Consultants manage the project and they will be our owner’s representative. Similar to what we did with the Bell,” Johnson explained. “They put out an RFP (Request for Proposals) or RFQ (Request for Quotes) for a contractor. They will do all those things to get the project going and keep it going.”
Although Nations Group is in Scottsdale, a representative will be on-site in Augusta.
And it is a familiar face.
Mike Harvey, Vice President of Project Design with Nations Group, had been a member of the Perkins + Will team that designed the project.
“It helps tremendously,” Johnson said. “Michael was part of the design team and how the building would look. So, he has a great knowledge from the architectural standpoint, what it should be like or what it should look like.”
Johnson anticipates the final events in the arena will be high school graduations in the spring.
That is also after renovations currently underway on the Bell Auditorium are complete and it is ready to book shows beginning in late May. That work is the first part of the three projects to create a new Augusta Entertainment Complex.
The first step will be to close off the arena property.
“They will start getting the site ready for demolition,” said Johnson. “They have to go and fence off the area, clear to make sure people are not in the area. Making sure all the power and those things are cut off. So, doing that is probably almost 30 days of processing.”
He said the demolition contractor will also be responsible for testing asbestos and removing it, if any is found.
The third part of the project will be the construction of a concourse to connect the two buildings.
Updates on the project are available at: https://newaugustaarena.com
The homepage also offers a link to the Georgia Procurement Registry for any business interested in bidding on various parts of the project.
