The size of the new arena is taking shape off Telfair Street between 7th Street and 8th Street and completely changes the skyline.
The new arena will be ten stories high, twice the height of the original James Brown Arena. It will be the length of three football fields and seat 10,500, substantially more than the old 7,000-seat capacity.
“It’s going up fast. They’re doing a great job,” Brad Usry, chairman of the arena construction subcommittee of the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority, told ABD. “We got 150 people working every day, it’s already mapped out 440,000 man-hours so far, so it’s amazing. We’re on schedule and on budget, that’s the big thing for us.”
Branden Stephan, general superintendent for the construction management group for PCL Construction, McKnight Construction, and JMB Construction, said the 18,000 yards of concrete work is completed, along with the steel superstructure. The upper concourse is also finished.
“The interior framing is well underway on the ground floor. The event level main concourse framing has started,” he explained. “All of our mechanical systems and electrical systems are well underway. Exterior wall framing has started to create the faceted planes of the exterior of the building. On the corners, we’ve got a lot of brickwork that has started. Most all of our underground has been completed.”
He said the target is still to have the new arena completed and available for the 2027 high school graduations.
While the enlarged seating in the new arena is expected to attract top-level acts for concerts, there was a bigger concern with the lighting and sound gear that major acts bring for their performance.
“If they hang in lights, they hang in trapeze, they’re hanging speakers, just the weight of the shows was too much for our infrastructure,” explained Usry. “But this one will hold any show that you can bring to town. Plus, having the ice option now that we have the hockey, we can bring in some ice shows, so it’s just not concerts. We’ve got options for sporting events now that we didn’t have before, because we have more locker rooms. We’re NCAA eligible now, and we can bid on NCAA things that are great for the community.”
Stephan said they have faced some challenges, number one being the weather. Even if it is not raining, but a thunderstorm is in the area, they must shut down, especially the crane and bucket trucks.
One problem they haven’t faced is finding housing for the work crews.
“We were very good in the first year, we stockpiled a lot of material, and everybody that was working was actually local to Augusta, so we didn’t have any housing problems this past Masters,” he said. “The steel erection was our primary focus, and a lot of those guys were actually staying just outside of the city and didn’t have a challenge. The next one will be a little more interesting, so like we’re preparing for that one next year, because it’ll be right at the end of our project.”
For Usry, time cannot pass soon enough to bring what he described as the excitement to Augusta.
“Curb appeal alone is exciting. It’s going to be impressive, but more importantly, the interior is going to be super impressive,” he said. “All the bells and whistles that you get with the new arena, the premium experiences, the luxury boxes, the concession options beyond a piece of pizza. It’s going to be super nice, and what Augusta deserves.”
