Augusta's locked-away treasures are a step closer to seeing the light of day again, possibly even by year's end.
The Georgia Golf Hall of Fame, owner of the six bronze golf legend statues that once graced Riverwalk Augusta and the now-defunct botanical gardens, has shaken its paralysis by merging with the Georgia State Golf Association, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that puts on amateur tournaments statewide.
The golf hall's board of directors voted to affiliate with the association in June, then got a blessing from Gov. Sonny Perdue on Wednesday, Chairman Bryan Persons said in a phone interview Friday.
Once the legalities are worked out by the state Attorney General's Office, the golf hall will become an arm of the Marietta-based organization, he said.
The move puts the group back in action, giving it a home and resources. The golf hall has lacked a viable budget since the governor vetoed a $633,685 appropriation, calling it unreasonable, in 2007.
"We didn't feel like we could sit around and do nothing," Mr. Persons said.
The board will now start entertaining proposals on what to do with the statues, which were carted into a maintenance building on the golf gardens property two years ago next month.
Several Augusta groups and public officials -- frustrated that potential tourist draws have been in the dark for so long -- are adamant that they remain here, seeing as how all but one of the six donors were Augusta-based and handed over $250,000 apiece with the expectation that the sculptures would be put on display downtown.
BARRY WHITE, the president and CEO of the Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau, is among those who have contacted Mr. Persons. He said he wants the statues to be temporarily displayed in the Augusta Museum of History, then put at the new Reynolds Street trade, exhibit and event center, which would open in about two years if the funds are ever approved by the Augusta Commission.
Museum Executive Director Nancy Glaser submitted a proposal, which was rejected in favor of affiliation with the golf association. (A third proposal was submitted by the Reynolds Plantation golf community at Lake Oconee.) Ms. Glaser said she wants to put them on pedestals in the museum rotunda, where even nonpaying visitors could view them. That would be just a temporary fix, she said, until long-term placement can be sorted out.
"I want them out," she said. "I just want people to be able to see them."
Some of the original donors say that the golf hall should either display the pieces in Augusta or return them to the people who paid for them.
"The public needs to enjoy them," said Ed Skinner, who sits on the Augusta Tomorrow board for Morris Communications Co., parent company of The Augusta Chronicle and donor of the Jack Nicklaus statue. "That was the whole purpose of donating them in the first place."
FEAR AND POLITICS have kept the statues hidden this long.
The golf hall has been protective of them since the late 1990s, when some of their vulnerable, bendable golf clubs were hit by vandals while on display near the Jessye Norman Amphitheater on the riverwalk. Byron Nelson, Ray Floyd and Ben Hogan were put in storage and didn't re-emerge until the botanical gardens opened in March 2001.
The gardens, envisioned as one of the city's most popular attractions, would eat up $13 million in public funds -- $6 million of it sales tax money -- and millions more in private donations, including $1 million from Augusta National Golf Club.
Visitor numbers and revenues suffered because a 55,000-square-foot hall of fame building was never funded. Then in 2007 a state audit found minor instances of misspending, such as employee massages and a bottle of wine for a board member.
When the gardens shut down that summer, the statues were locked up in a maintenance building. At that time, there was still hope that the site would survive. Later that year, the board agreed to let the city take over maintenance, and the 2008 Mayor's Masters Reception was held there, though without the sculptures on display.
The Hall of Fame received $110,000 in Mr. Perdue's final 2009 fiscal budget, enough to keep the executive director and a marketing director employed for another year. But then in December 2008 the city gave up on gardens upkeep as a budget-balancing measure.
Two bills in this year's General Assembly session sought to address the hall of fame dilemma. One, drafted by Sen. Ed Tarver, would have dissolved the board and transferred the land and the statues to the city. The other would have privatized the golf hall, taking the real estate out of its purview but keeping it state-owned. Neither bill passed.
THE STATE Properties Commission has said that the 17-acre site can't be sold without an act of the Legislature, but the same doesn't go for the statues.
As a state authority, the Golf Hall of Fame has had the power to lease, loan, gift or sell them, as long as it has no legal obligation to the original donors, Mr. Tarver said. In other words, all this time they could have been on display had the board so chosen.
Mr. Persons said he doesn't believe the sponsors have any claim to the statues and that it's his understanding that disposing of state property isn't as simple as a board vote.
Until recently, he said, no one came forward with a proposal for displaying the sculptures.
"I'm the custodian of those statues," said Mr. Persons, vice president of Murphey, Taylor & Ellis Inc., a real estate firm in Macon, Ga. "I feel like it is our duty to preserve those assets."
Mr. Tarver said his objective now is to make sure the statues don't leave Augusta, and he has called Mr. Persons and made his wishes known.
During the legislative session, the possibility of the hall of fame moving to another state came up, and logically, the board would want to take its most valuable assets with them, Mr. Tarver said.
He said he suggested to Augusta Tomorrow that it put together a consolidated proposal for the statues on behalf of the city, rather than having multiple groups with different ideas petitioning the board.
ONCE THE AFFILIATION with the golf association is finalized, the Legislature would still have to formally dissolve the hall of fame's state authority status. But in the meantime, Mr. Persons said, the board can look for places to put the statues and its memorabilia collection -- golf clubs, photographs and other donated items.
"We are open to any and all ideas as to the use of those assets," he said.
He said the board hopes that when the Legislature dissolves its status it will also take the Reynolds Street property off its hands. He said the hall of fame has no interest in the land.
Asked whether the statues will stay in their city of origin, he said, "Yes. I would think that would be a preference, to keep them in Augusta."
But he doubts the board will entertain notions of parting with them permanently.
"I really don't feel like our board is going to want to relinquish total control of those," he said. "If we were to loan them to the Augusta museum for a year or two, we would like to know that at some point we could get them back.
"We still have hopes that we may be part of a permanent structure someday," he said, "and if we were, we would like to retain ownership of those statues."
Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225 or johnny.edwards@augustachronicle.com.
Where should the statues ultimately go?
- "I would like to see them displayed locally. If at all possible, I'd like to see them on permanent display in Augusta." - Mayor Deke Copenhaver
- "I've heard the Commons. I've heard the airport. They need to stay in Augusta. That's my goal." - Augusta Museum of History Executive Director Nancy Glaser
- "Potentially, the Museum of History, perhaps on a temporary basis. I think the TEE center would be a natural place, to have them in the open areas." - Barry White, the president and CEO of the Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau
- "We're looking forward, as a community, to building the TEE center, and if you had the statues to put inside or around the facility, it would certainly make it more attractive." - State Sen. Ed Tarver
- "The Commons. The airports. The library. The museum. Somewhere where they could be seen and protected." - City Commissioner Jerry Brigham, who earlier this year got a resolution passed asking the Golf Hall of Fame to display the statues somewhere in the city in time for Masters Week, which wasn't done
- "We very much would like to retain our Byron Nelson statue back so we can display it somewhere in the Augusta area. ... I would love to see them all pulled out and polished up so the people of Augusta could enjoy them. But where is that spot? I don't know." - Phil Harison , the president of the Creel Foundation, the donor of the Nelson statue
- "I don't know what I'd do, but they need to put them somewhere. They need to do something with them. It's sad that they're there and basically mothballed. I don't know where, but anywhere aside from where they are. It can't get worse." - PGA Tour golfer and Augusta native Charles Howell
- "While the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame is currently in a transition period, we fully expect the hall to open again soon. We're confident the statues once again will be displayed in a suitable manner." - John Reynolds, a member of the golf hall board of directors and the vice president of global business development for Club Car Inc., donor of the Ray Floyd statue, in a written statement
What will it take to display statues?
The players
Sen. Ed Tarver: Earlier this year , he proposed legislation that would have dissolved the golf hall's board of directors and transferred ownership of the property and the statues to the city, but it got attached to a bill that didn't pass before the session closed. Now he's appealing to hall of fame board Chairman Bryan Persons to keep the statues in Augusta.
The Convention and Visitors Bureau: President and CEO Barry White is asking Mr. Persons to allow the statues to be housed in the Augusta Museum of History temporarily, then placed in the Reynolds Street trade, exhibit and event center after it's built.
Augusta Museum of History: Executive Director Nancy Glaser wants to lease the statues and place them in the rotunda, where they would be visible even to the nonpaying public until a long-term location can be found. She's also asking to use some of the hall of fame's memorabilia in the museum's golf exhibit.
Augusta Tomorrow: Mr. Tarver has suggested the downtown revitalization think tank present a consolidated proposal to the hall of fame on behalf of the city.
The original statue donors: Several of them, led by Morris Communications Co. and Monty Osteen, a former chairman and CEO of Bankers First Corp., want the hall of fame to either display the statues in Augusta or give them back to them. Their contention is that they paid $250,000 to commission and maintain the statues with the understanding that Augustans would be able to enjoy them.
The deciders
The Golf Hall of Fame's board of directors: Theoretically, it could vote at any time to lease, loan, sell or give away the statues, but Mr. Persons contends it's not that simple. While an affiliation with the Georgia State Golf Association is being finalized, it will start taking proposals from anyone interested in displaying the statues. With a board vote, a new display location could be determined.
The Georgia State Golf Association: The nonprofit, Marietta-based golfing organization is taking the Golf Hall of Fame under its wing, so it's likely to have input in any decisions involving the group's most valuable assets.
The Legislature: Though it would take an act of the General Assembly to sell the 17-acre property controlled by the Golf Hall of Fame, it doesn't necessarily take one to dispose of the statues, considered personal property. At the same time, an act of the Legislature could force the golf hall to relinquish the sculptures .
Gov. Sonny Perdue: He's likely to have input as well. He could veto any act of the Legislature, and the golf hall would likely want his blessing on any decision . Its board members are appointed by the governor, the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House.
The challenges
Security: Because of the history of vandalism of the statues on Riverwalk Augusta, the golf hall is unlikely to agree to display any of them outdoors, even though neither the James Brown statue nor the James Oglethorpe statue has suffered any damage. A secure location is needed, preferably within a building or fence or within sight of security cameras.
Display: Any group wanting to take custody of the statues would have to put up funds for pedestals and make arrangements for transportation, with assurances that the statues wouldn't be damaged. A crane or forklift would be needed to mount them.
Limited time : At this point, any display area won't be forever. The golf hall will want the option of getting the statues back in the event that a permanent hall of fame building is found someday.
AUGUSTA'S HIDDEN TREASURES
The Georgia Golf Hall of Fame has statues of five Masters Tournament champions and tournament founder Bobby Jones locked in a maintenance building at the former botanical gardens. The donors paid the golf hall $250,000 apiece. About $100,000 of that was for the commission of the statues themselves, and the rest was for maintenance and display costs. All but one - the Bobby Jones statue - were donated by Augustans.
BOBBY JONES
(Co-founder of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament)
Sponsor: Carlsbad, Calif.-based Callaway Golf Co., whose chairman and founder, Ely Callaway, was Mr. Jones' second cousin. Mr. Callaway died in 2001.
Scultor: Zenos Frudakis, Philadelphia
Pose: Follow-through swing
Unveiled: Jan. 10, 1998, on the second floor of the Radisson Riverfront Hotel Augusta
ARNOLD PALMER
(1958, '60, '62, '64 Masters champion)
Sponsor: Bankers First Corp., which was based in Augusta and is now part of Wachovia
Sculptor: Zenos Frudakis, Philadelphia
Pose: Mr. Palmer in his late-1950s, early-1960s heyday, leaning on a driver and gazing down the 10th fairway on a Masters Sunday.
Unveiled: April 9, 1996, in the center of a fountain in the circular drive outside the Radisson Riverfront Hotel
JACK NICKLAUS
(1963, '65, '66, '72, '75, '86 Masters champion)
Sponsor: Morris Communications Co., based in Augusta
Sculptor: Blair Buswell, Highland, Utah
Pose: Putter extended skyward as he sinks a birdie putt on the 17th hole to win the 1986 Masters Tournament
Unveiled: April 4, 2000, in the commons area of the Golf and Gardens. It was unveiled again with the opening of the Golf and Gardens the next year.
BEN HOGAN
(1951, '53 Masters champion)
Sponsor: Georgia Power's East Region office in Augusta and Regional Vice President Tommy Stone, who retired in 2002
Sculptor: Williams Behrends, Tryon, N.C.
Pose: Follow-through swing
Unveiled: Jan. 18, 1997, at a Golf Hall of Fame banquet in the Radisson. Two days later, it was placed at the riverwalk near the Jessye Norman Amphitheater, then put in storage after vandalism.
BYRON NELSON
(1937, '42 Masters champion)
Sponsor: The Creel Foundation, an Augusta-based philanthropic organization whose founder, Howard Creel, was a friend and fellow golfer of Mr. Nelson
Sculptor: Larry Ludtke, Houston
Pose: Follow-through swing
Unveiled: April 6, 1999, on the lower level of the riverwalk at 10th Street. The statue was put in storage until the gardens' grand opening because of fears of vandalism.
RAY FLOYD
(1976 Masters champion)
Sponsor: Club Car Inc., based in Augusta, though a subsidiary of New Jersey-based Ingersoll Rand since 1995
Sculptors: Jeff and Anna Koh-Varilla, Chicago
Pose: Chipping stance
Unveiled: April 7, 1997, on the upper level of the riverwalk behind the amphitheater. Later that month, a vandal broke the golf club off the statue. The statue was also put in storage until the grand opening.
icon.
