Cultivate our city's cultural center

A quality performing Arts center would be the best use of that land. I am sure there would be a way to include a "Hall of Fame" within the same facility, as you suggest. downtown needs real attractions and anchors. The Golf and Gardens was neither. A top notch performing arts center could play host to travelling broadway shows and music concerts ( a much better venue for concerts then a sports arena!). You are right, investment in the arts does pay off. A quality performing arts center would increase the quality of life downtown, raise Augusta's prominence in city rankings, and attract more residents and business downtown.

It is hard to find an argument against the thoughts in your letter, Ms. Self

Brilliant idea! Why not organize a group of influential folks including Senator Tarver to give this serious thought. It would be a great neighbor for the Morris Museum. Could be a cultural corridor.
I think of the Kennedy Center in Washington, and its beautiful setting along the Potomac River, and its rooftop area for receptions.
Shared parking with the Morris Museum which is a daytime destination and a Performing Arts Theater which would have mostly daytime usage could be a win win for both.
Just don't incorporate those ugly golfer statues as art please

Why didn't they do this in the first place, instead of waste all of those millions on The Golf and Gardens?

Hillguy-"they"were trying to patronize the Augusta National who has done great things for the Augusta area as well as being a large contributor to charities in this area. " They" had hoped that the state would help financially but got crosswise with Gov. Perdue and he kicked their butts. Enough said

Oh really? Well then why didn't The National not want to even cooperate in the project by letting them use The Masters logo, etc? The National wanted no part of the project.. not financially or in any other capacity. A Masters Museum and Gift shop does make some good sense.. if it is located adjacent to the course. Many visitors to Augusta would love to be able to see something relating to The Masters..the best they can do now is have their photo taken in front of Magnolia drive. Let The National do it, if they want to do it.. for it it to be successful, they have to be involved. I actually did visit the Golf and Gardens..there wasn't much relating to the Masters...the gardens were nice and the bronze statues were actually sort of ugly.. all in all it wasn't worth the admission price... and even if it was free, it may be a place a person would visit once or twice.

The trouble with the way Augusta approached the performing arts center in the 2005 bond referendum was that they wanted the taxpayers to pay for the whole thing. Cities that have award-winning performing arts centers do it largely with private money donated as tax deductible. The best example is Columbus, GA. Bill Heard and others donated almost all the money. Augusta has deep pocketed individuals, but they don't pony up because the politicians don't insist on private participation. For example, Billy Morris did not pledge one thin dime for the proposed sports arena nor for the performing arts center in 2005.

Lamb.. this is true and is one of the reasons why Augusta is so behind the curve in regards to cultural amenities. Where are the philanthropists in Augusta to support these facilities? This was part of the problem with The Golf Hall of Fame.. the private contributions were severely lacking. BUt the Golf Hall of Fame was an ill-conceive and mismanaged project to begin with. Atanta built their cultural attractions.. the High Museum of Art, The new Arts Center and Symphony Hall and The Botanical Gardens.. largely through private contributions. BUt in Augusta, the checkbooks don't open very much.. if the Augusta's wealthiest citizens and business leaders are unwilling to invest in the city's future.. how can they expect the average taxpayer to do so?

Wonderful idea! A center for the performing arts celebrating our golf heritage and surrounded by the lovely landscape that has been developed there would spotlight several of Augusta's outstanding features. What a draw for tourists and arts lovers throughout the Southeast! How can we get the city government and some of our leading philanthropists behind this idea?

Maybe it could be a petting zoo. With cages and cages of city administrators. (couldn't help it, sorry. I keep seeing the images and can't help but giggle...)

To get support all you have to do is ask and then make sure that the county government has nothing to do with it whatsoever.
But you do need qualified and competent people to operate and run the facility or it will follow most other ventures. By qualified and competent I mean unrelated to the commission members in any imaginable and unimaginable way.

The problem with this as with most things in Augusta.. is that competence is not what's valued, but rather who you rub elbows with.

Raindance - I like your idea. :) But really, a true performing arts venue is exactly what is needed. Of course, I've never actually seen the Augusta Symphony perform -- so I don't know where they do it now -- but I remember when I was in school at ASU, they practiced at the PAT. [I couldn't even go see them practice, though, cuz they charged almost $20 for that -- back then.] How large of a venue would this be?

Considering that Billy Morris and his Augusta Chronicle were early cheerleaders for this moneypit.. I wouln't put much stock in what they thought was the "highest and best use of that land."

Just don't let Billy Morris get a hold of that land. I'm ok with a ballpark there. It would be a nice centerpiece for downtown. But I think it shouldn't just be a ballpark. I like the idea of an Arts Center. There is plenty of space to do both. Augusta needs a variety of attraction in downtown. The GGHOF took up way too much space and drew far too few people.