‘Attacked and slandered’: Augusta preservation chief quits

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Two days after the Augusta Historic Preservation Commission came under fire from city leaders over its treatment of a property owner, the chairwoman of the panel has resigned in a sharply worded letter.

The preservation panel’s members serve at the pleasure of the Augusta Commission, but Tara Conway fired back at commissioners in her exit letter.

“It has become clear that many of the City of Augusta Commissioners and the city staff do not respect preservation or the commission tasked with preserving the city’s legacy,” she wrote. “I will no longer tolerate my name and character, as well as the reputation of HPC and its volunteer members, being attacked and slandered.”

Her exit was effective immediately, she said in the letter that came to light Thursday.

The preservation panel was under scrutiny at the Augusta Commission meeting Tuesday over its treatment of Joe Edge, a local real estate figure who owns the historic Old First Baptist Church building.

In 2020, Edge outlined plans to renovate the iconic building for office and residential use.

However, the building has continued to decay by some accounts as Edge fights break-ins by homeless people as well as vandalism.

Recently, he filed a certificate of appropriateness to demolish the structure.

Last month, the preservation commission took him to task in a meeting that made it seem more like he was on trial, according to one Augusta commissioner.

“That attorney grilled the owner of that building like it was a courtroom,” Commissioner Catherine Smith Rice said. “What I saw that night, I felt like it was personal and I thought to myself, ‘Who else has gone through this?’”

Like Rice, Commissioner Tina Slendak was at the January meeting of the preservation panel.

She said she was “disappointed” at how Edge was spoken to.

“Both sides probably have room for improvement as far as talking back to each other,” she said. “He was literally being interrogated.”

A lot of people are blaming the decay on Edge “when it’s just decades of neglect,” she said.

“He’s fighting a losing battle down there,” she said.

She doesn’t want to see the building demolished, “but it’s going to take millions of dollars to make it functional again,” she said.

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