Augusta, GA
Neighbors vexed over city leasing out Eisenhower Park
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Construction crews have been hard at work at Eisenhower Park, which the Augusta National Golf Club has leased for parking during the Masters Tournament.
There’s now lots of circular tracks in the dirt, moving concrete blocks, and digging up the old foundation.
Where older field towers used to stand, now lies an open field that will soon house patrons months from now.
“Well, they can get plenty of cars in here, not surprised,” said nearby neighbor, Matthew Mayes. “It doesn’t bother me. At least they’ll be using it for something. I love coming down here.”
Mayes says he walks around this track most every day. He says the front side of the park is in constant use, but the lower fields will only see the occasional dog walker and pick-up game.
“A lot of people come and walk their dogs on it,” he said. “A lot of kids down here when baseball season gets going on, weather warms up you’ll see a lot more kids at this playground over here.”
But not all the neighbors are happy about it.
Parents and neighbors across “Nextdoor” are frustrated to find out their park next door isn’t just getting a renovation.
Among the comments:
- “I take my son there, he’s 2 and loves it.”
- “Greed at work, kids don’t have a place to go now.”
- “There are no benefits for the regular people of Augusta.”
However, Commissioner Sean Frantom reassures park-goers.
“They’re taking a few fields that were not even in use anyway, and eventually it’s just going to put more greenspace in the park,” he said.
The city approved a three-year lease with Augusta National for about $10,000 a year to use the space for extra parking during Masters.
Through an open-records request, News 12 obtained mapped plans that show the parking lot to expand into three baseball diamonds at the park.
We’re working to find out more about the plans.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
An Augusta city committee on Tuesday is scheduled to hear an update from the Recreation and Parks Department about nine municipal parks that are so seldom used that they might not be worth keeping open.
A civil engineering firm partnering with Recreation and Parks spent months gathering information on Augusta-Richmond County’s 51 public parks.
The audit by Infrastructure System Management scored the locations using a rubric that measured the sizes of the parks and how close they are to other parks. The audit also counted the number of park visitors to calculate how often the parks were used.
In a previous presentation to the committee last fall, commissioners learned that it would cost about $22 million to bring all city parks up to proper maintenance standards for just the first year.
By comparison, the Recreation and Parks budget is closer to $1.2 million, according to Abie Ladson Jr., a former city engineering director who now directs the ISM consultancy.
The smallest of the nine parks, Alexander Barrett Park, is barely a 10th of an acre, about the size of an NBA basketball court. The wedge-shaped lot where Wheeler Road meets Royal Street is composed of open grass and two playground swings built only for infants and toddlers.
The largest of the nine is the 3.49-acre W.T. Johnson Center on Hunter Street, behind Beulah Grove Baptist Church. Its facilities include a gymnasium and athletic fields.
The parks whose futures will be considered:
- A.L. Williams Park, 1850 Broad St.
- Alexander Barrett Park, 2629 Royal St.
- Bedford Heights Park, 1016 Camellia Dr.
- Doughty Park, 1200 Nellieville Rd.
- Elliott Park, 2027 Lumpkin Rd.
- Heard Avenue Park, 1500 Heard Ave.
- Hillside Park (Vernon Forrest Park), 2101 Telfair St.
- Valley Park, 1805 Valley Park Dr. E.
- W.T. Johnson Center, 1606 Hunter St.
Augusta, GA
Augusta Athletics to Host ‘Sweet Sendoff’ for Women’s Basketball Heading to the NCAA Tournament – Augusta University
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta University Athletics will host a Sweet Sendoff for the Jaguars women’s basketball team on Wednesday, March 11 at 12:30 p.m. at Christenberry Fieldhouse as the team prepares to depart for the NCAA Tournament.
Fans, students, faculty and staff are invited to stop by Christenberry Fieldhouse to help send off the 2026 Peach Belt Conference Tournament Champion Jaguars before they leave for NCAA Regional play. Cookies, brownies and other sweet treats will be available as the Augusta community gathers to celebrate the team’s championship and wish them well on their postseason run.
Following the brief gathering, the team will walk out to the bus as they depart for the NCAA Tournament.
Augusta captured the Peach Belt Conference Tournament title on Sunday to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, marking the program’s first conference tournament championship in 33 years.
The Sweet Sendoff is free and open to the public.
Sweet Sendoff
Wednesday, March 11
12:30 p.m.
Christenberry Fieldhouse
3109 Wrightsboro Road, Augusta, Ga 30912
Fans can follow Augusta women’s basketball throughout the NCAA Tournament at augustajags.com
Augusta, Ga. – Nolan Turner had two hits, a homer, and scored twice to lead Augusta, but it was Lander picking up the win 19-4 over Augusta in the series finale on Sunday at Jaguar field. Augusta is now 12-10 overall and 8-4 in the Peach Belt Conference. The Bearcats are 14-8 overall and 8-4 in conference play.
AU got on the board in the opening inning as Turner scored on a wild pitch. But Lander would respond four runs in the second on a grand slam home run.
In the bottom of the second, the Jaguars would plate a pair of runs. Davis Newman singled home Harris Bachelder and Nathan Martin would come up with a sacrifice fly that scored Roland Chance.
The Bearcats would blow it open by scoring 10 runs in the third inning.
Turner would deliver a solo homer in the third for the last Augusta run.
Augusta collected eight hits on the day with Turner being the only player with more than one.
The Jaguars will next be on the field when they travel to Cochran, Ga. to take on Middle Georgia in a three game series. The opener is Friday at 6 p.m.
Fans of Jaguar Athletics can subscribe to the email listserve by clicking here. Fans can follow Augusta University at www.augustajags.com and receive short updates on Facebook at Augusta University Athletics and on Twitter at @AugustaJags.
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