Augusta, GA
Augusta leaders decide fate of Old First Baptist Church
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Augusta Historic Preservation Commission decided on the future of the Old First Baptist Church building on Thursday.
The organization is giving the property owner 10 days to take action in repairing the building.
We spoke with officials about the building’s structural issues.
After testimonies from people with code enforcement, neighboring businesses and Historic Augusta, the Preservation Commission decided that the owner wasn’t making routine repairs and maintenance to keep the property safe and up to code.
That means a potential legal battle if the ball doesn’t get rolling soon.
One of the biggest pieces of downtown Augusta’s history is in danger of structurally failing.
The Augusta Historic Preservation Commission says after hearing testimonies and gathering evidence of the state of the building, they’re concerned for the future.
“It is on the endangered property list for historic Augusta but is on the state endangered property list. So, we’re not making up that it’s there’s a problem. There is a very serious problem with this building,” said Tara Conway, chair of the Augusta Preservation Commission.
The city’s code enforcement says the building is breaking several code violations, including making Augusta’s blight list dating back to 2021.
The property owner, Joe Edge, says he’s spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs to keep the structural integrity of the church stable, like installing a new roof on the back of the building to prevent it from collapsing.
“We’ve secured the front keeping the homeless out. We’ve had to secure not just put salt on. We’ve had to install wrought iron fencing around the basement to keep vagrants out of there,” said Edge.
However, code enforcement says there are no permits pulled for almost all of the projects Edge claimed there was work done.
It’s an issue historical stakeholders say they’re glad action is being taken because you can’t just rebuild historical markers.
George Bush with the Preservation Committee Historic Augusta said: “This is not just a local building. This is where the Southern Baptist Convention started. This is a national asset, and we are just trying to save it, and we’re doing everything we can.”
The city will now issue a notice to Edge for him to file a Certificate of Appropriateness, or COA, which is a permit with the city to allow him to start making external repairs.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta University’s Healthy Grandparents program had its Christmas party Sunday.
Santa is continuing his trip across the csra and was at the party to give presents to the kids.
The program was started in 1999 to support grandparents raising their children.
They help with necessary services like food assistance and transportation.
We spoke with one of the grandparents about the program.
“My grandchildren love it. They do a lot of things going on the year, like summer camp and all that stuff, book bag, getaways,” said Carolyn Thompson.
The program has helped more than 660 families, 900 grandparents, and 1,300 grandchildren.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
Augusta, Ga. – In a game that saw 19 lead changes, Georgia College and State prevailed over Augusta 99-91 in overtime Saturday at Christenberry Fieldhouse. The Jaguars fall to 2-2 in Peach Belt Conference play and 6-7 overall. The Bobcats are now 3-0 in conference play and 6-2 overall.
C.J. Jones of GCSU was the star of this one as he poured in 42 points to lead all scorers and also grabbed eight rebounds in the win.
The Jaguars fell behind midway through the second half, but with just one second left in regulation, T.J. Baker hit a three-pointer to send the game into overtime. But in the extra period, GCSU outscored AU 18-10 for the winning margin.
Luis Nonfon, who had another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, started the scoring in overtime and gave the Jags the 83-81 lead. GCSU then rattled off five straight points to take the lead, one they would not surrender.
The Jaguars had five players in double figures led by Elías Pálsson who tallied 22 points while grabbing eight rebounds. T.J. Baker and Tobias Prall each had 18 points while Charlie McBeath scored 13.
Augusta hit on just 35% of their shots from the field while GCSU hit on 52.5%. The Bobcats outscored Augusta 46-22 in the paint and went 8-18 from three-point range while Augusta finished 10 of 29 from deep. From the foul line, both teams went 29-36.
Other than Nonfon grabbing double figures in rebounds, Pálsson eight rebounds and was a perfect 12-12 from the foul line.
Next up for the Jaguars will be a battle with Reinhardt University on Thursday at 11 a.m., part of Columbia County Education Day.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Richmond County started a search for an armed robbery suspect Saturday evening.
They started the search on the 3700 block of Wheeler Road after an alleged armed robbery at an SRP ATM.
The suspect is described as a 40-year-old black male, wearing all black, a face mask and a camouflage jacket.
The suspect fled the area on foot in an unknown direction.
The sheriff’s office used K9 Units, along with the drone unit, to search.
This investigation is in its early stages, and no further information is available at this time.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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