Augusta, GA

JENNIE: Augusta Players Capital Campaign underway for city’s longest-serving arts organization

Published

2 years ago

June 26, 2024

JENNIE: Augusta Players Capital Campaign underway for city’s longest-serving arts organization

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)– The Augusta Players is the longest existing arts organization in the CSRA, providing professional theatrical experiences for adults and youth for 80 years. And for 80 years they’ve been without a home of their own– but that’s about to change!

Scott Seidl is the Executive and Artistic Director of the Augusta Players.

“This has been a five year journey for us. I mean, we’ve been looking for a place like this since before the pandemic happened. And so when this one was brought to our attention, it was a no brainer. We were just so excited because it’s right there in the heart of the theater district. Literally across the street is the Miller Theater. A block away is the Imperial Theatre on the same block as Le Chat Noir. On the same block is Jessye Norman School of the Arts. And so there’s just a synergy and a energy of community that is a part of just the location itself.”

While the Augusta Players offices have been at Sacred Heart Cultural Center for years, everything else has required Seidl and his team to be quite the nomadic bunch! From rehearsals at the Kroc Center and Jessye Norman School of the Arts, to building props and costumes in other locations, to a warehouse in another location– they are scattered all over the place. Even performances happen in different venues around town.

“And it just limits us because even though all of those places and organizations are very kind to support what we do, we’re also at the mercy of their schedule. And so we have a very finite and specific amount of time that we can be in any one of these locations. And so it kind of limits the offerings that we can present to our community and in the ways that we can help our community as well.”

The Augusta Players is also a social services organization, offering programs like Augusta Readers Theater, for senior citizens…. and Camp Wonderland, for young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder. There’s also a new program on the horizon called Enchanted Stages, which is interactive theater for families that have people with disabilities.

“And our ARTreach program bringing over 12,000 kids into the theater on an annual basis. And that material that we present to them supports the curriculum to all the area counties. Like those are things that we do — I think the shows also serve the community in its own way, but these things are specifically designed and detailed to support the needs of our community.”

The community can support the capital campaign in several ways.

“Financially, of course, and when it’s time to move in about 11 months, we can use a lot of hands as well! We have a website, theapcampaign.com, and you can see photos of the renovation and the designs of the renovation and explain some of our programming. And then it offers you a long list of ways you can contribute. There are still opportunities for naming opportunities. If you happen to have the resources to contribute at a high level. But you can buy a brick too. I’ve done a couple of those in the name of my grandmother and my parents, who are both deceased but were so supportive of me. And lots of folks are choosing that path. But also, you know, $5 helps.”

Grand opening for the new home of the Augusta Players is projected to be in May or June of 2025.

You can support the Augusta Players capital campaign by donating here.

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Augusta, GA

Structure fire blocks multiple lanes on Peach Orchard Road

Published

7 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Structure fire blocks multiple lanes on Peach Orchard Road

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and Augusta Fire Department responded to a structure fire early Saturday morning in the 3600 block of Peach Orchard Road.

Fire truck shortage forces local departments to wait years for equipment

Emergency crews blocked multiple lanes as they battled the fire, according to a Facebook post from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.

News 12 has reached out to the Augusta Fire Department to determine the cause of the fire and to inquire about any reported injuries.

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Augusta, GA

Finding Solutions: Augusta Juvenile Court receives grant for gang prevention

Published

19 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Finding Solutions: Augusta Juvenile Court receives grant for gang prevention

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Augusta Juvenile Court received a grant of more than $1 million to prevent youth from joining gangs by addressing underlying factors that lead to criminal behavior.

The grant from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council will allow the court to expand services beyond its current programs and serve a broader population of at-risk youth.

“This allows us to build on the work we are currently doing. It also allows us to serve a different population of youth that we have not been able to serve on such an extended level, so we have additional funds that will serve even more kids and to hopefully assist the sheriff and district attorney in not having youthful offenders become adult offenders that they have to obtain and prosecute,” said Chief Judge Tianna Bias.

Addressing root causes

The funding will target factors that make youth vulnerable to gang recruitment, including poor school attendance and reading difficulties.

“Whether it’s that they have poor school attendance, not reading on grade level. One thing we’ve seen is that when you are not reading on grade level that has an impact on many other areas of your life. It’s really just an opportunity to offer wrap-around support for these kids so we can prevent them from getting into unfortunate situations that they may not end up in front of a juvenile court judge later,” Bias said.

Dr. Audrey Armistad, chief intake officer for the juvenile court, said the court’s goal is rehabilitation rather than detention.

“We put them in programs and services that help them to be able to develop mentally, socially and physically when it comes to kids involved with the juvenile court,” Armistad said.

Expanding services

The juvenile court currently serves at-risk youth through the THRIVE program. The court is also expanding services with a new computer lab set to open next month.

“It helps us to be able to provide instruction to kids getting GEDs, parents wanting GEDs, as well as we provide learning loss instruction to kids enrolled in Richmond County who may need remediation in math and reading,” Armistad said.

A gang prevention expert will meet with the juvenile court team to provide recommendations on how the grant money should be spent.

Bias said success will be measured by fewer teens in courtrooms and more in classrooms.

“We are meant to rehabilitate not to punish and we want to help these parents get kids on track so we can see a better Augusta for everyone,” Bias said.

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