Augusta’s downtown core is the defining heart of the region’s urban area and includes the city blocks bounded by 15th to 5th Streets, the riverfront to the Third Level of the Augusta Canal and North Augusta. This area includes the original shopping core for the entire region and, while constantly evolving with the expansion of the suburbs, it remains the center for many new restaurants, bars, specialty shopping and live entertainment including a January 2018 reopening of the historic Miller Theater that had been shuttered for 30 years. In addition, two new hotels opened in 2019 – The Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Hyatt House Hotel.
Downtown Augusta is fast becoming a cyber innovation and security center for the United States. The Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center is a $100 million two-building project. The second building was dedicated by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal in January 2019. Cyber companies are relocating to downtown Augusta to be close to this new center that boasts a “cyber range.”
The urban core also boasts three downtown parks – The Augusta Common, Springfield Village Park and SRP Ballpark (home of the Augusta GreenJackets baseball team). The Augusta Common hosts activities and festivals almost every weekend throughout the year. Springfield Village Park, with its two iconic sculptures, is getting ready for a grand unveiling of historical and timeline plaques in late spring to early summer 2020. These plaques will tell the story of one of the most historic African American communities in the United States and historic Springfield Baptist Church. SRP Ballpark was named the 2018 ballpark of the year by Baseball Parks.com and is a hub of activity both during baseball games and at other times during the week.
The downtown core remains a vital office district and a major center of employment for the region. Residential apartment/loft living is usually at 98% capacity, and new apartments/lofts in historic buildings are continually being built out (check the “Latest News” page on this website).
The central downtown core is constantly evolving, and the projects delineated in the Master Plan are just a few of the current core activities.