Newspaper Page Text
City has big plans for vacant complex
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NOTORIOUS CRIME HAVEN, Village Square Apartments, now stands vacant. City plans business
development on the site. Photo by Jimmy Carter
B Once heavily
populated housing
complex now a ghost
town. Buildings will
be razed for office
complex.
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
. AUGUSTA
What was once an unsavory,
vet fully occupied apartment
Mayor questions city police
awarding rifle as raffle prize
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Fed up with increasing num
bers of gun-toting people, most
concerned citizens want to get
guns off the streets. The Augusta
Police Department, however, is
giving one away.
“Why not give a gun?” Lt. Mark
Lovering asked. “There’s nothing
wrong with legal gun ownership.
We're giving away a gun just like
we're giving away a cellular
phone,” he explained.
Sgt. J.R. Compton recently con
tacted the Augusta Focus to get
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complex, now has the image of a
ghost town. Not for long, though,
says Mayor Charles DeVaney.
The city has big plans for the
skeletal remains of the former
Village Square Apartments on
Damascus Road. After paying
approximately $1.5 million for
the 38 acres, the city is eager to
see a return on its investment.
According to Mr. DeVaney, the
city’s primary plan for the prop
erty is to build an office park.
Some of the land will go toward
expanding Augusta Golf Course.
Located off of Wrightsboro
free publicity on a barbecue and
raffle sponsored by the police de
partment in support of its bicycle
patrol.
When asked what theraffle prize
was, Mr. Compton replied, “I'd
rather not say.” Reluctantly how
ever, he revealed that they were
giving away a .22-caliber rifle. He
didn’t want thatinformation print
ed because, according to him, it
didn’t “look right for the police
department to be giving away a
gun.”
Mr. Lovering, however, dis
agrees that a gun give-away is a
contradictory act for the police
department.
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Road, the property is in a very
good economic area, Mr.
DeVaney said. .
“There is lots of interest in it
from stores and other business
es,” he said. “I think we will
more than recoup ourinvestment
and put new items on the tax
books.”
Although the property isn’t in
the city limits, Mr. DeVaney said
the city bought it because it is
adjacent to city-owned property,
including Daniel Field Airport
and the golf course.
Also, the apartment complex
“Guns are sold everyday in this
city. Besides, we're talking about
one gun. One gun doesn’t mean
anything,” Mr. Lovering said.
According to Mr. Lovering, the
police department is “in the busi
ness of fighting crime, not guns,
and guns aren’t the root of crime;
people are.”
Mayor Charles DeVaney, who
was unaware of the gun-give
away, said if the police depart
ment had asked his advice, he
would’ve suggested a bicycle be
cause it sends a much safer mes
sage.
“I’'m not sure that we need any
more guns on the streets of this
had deteriorated beyond repair.
“We had this small island that
we couldn’t even patrol because
it was not in the corporate lim
its,” he said. “We needed to ac
quire it so we could eliminate
such a hazardous area.”
According toMr. DeVaney, the
property should be annexed in
the next 30-60 days.
Former residents of Village
Square Apartments had to relo
cate, but Mr. DeVaney said no
one complained.
“The area had simply deterio
rated to a point where it was
becoming unmanageable,” he
said. “I think having the people
move to different locations has
probably improved the living con
ditions of many people.
. Although the city had bid out
the demolition project to private
contractors, it is now consider
ing alternatives because of the
costs involved.
According to Christine
Attaway of the Department of
Inspections, the lowest of three
bids for the demolition job was
$475,000, twice the amount the
city’s budget allows.
To lessen expenses, the city
fire department will burn the 87
buildings, and the sanitation
department will do the final
clearing, Ms. Attaway said.
Ms. Attaway anticipates start
ofdemolition within the next two
months. Because it will be done
in manageable segments, work
shouldn’t disrupt traffic, she add
ed.
community or any other commu
nity,” Mr. DeVaney said.
Although Mr. DeVaney agrees
thatonegun won’thave a massive
negative effect, he said to give
even one away is a poor reflection
of the police department.
“We have to set the image and
standard,” he said, “and if we're
saying it’s OK, then that could
lead somebody to think that we
endorse that.”
Headded, “Next time, we should
give something away that’s not so
dangerous.”
Police Chief Austin McLane
didn’treturn Augusta Focus phone
calls for comments.
When it comes to service, everything matters.*
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AUGUSTA FOCUS
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NELSON B. RIVERS I, Southeast Director of the NAACP honors
Dr. King and caills for Augustans to support local branch with
cash.
Photo by Jimmy Carter
Fiery oratory kicks off
NAACP King celebration
Frederick J. Benjamin
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Martin Luther King, Jr. was
an uncompromising social rebel
who dared challenge the status
quo in both the white and black
worlds. Nelson B. Rivers 111,
Southeast Director ofthe NAACP
is afraid that Dr. King’s memory
1s being co-opted by forces that
actually opposed Dr. King while
he was alive.
“They want to portray Dr. King
as merely a dreamer,” Mr. Riv
ers told the audience at the An
nual Freedom Fund Banquet on
Monday. More than a mere
dreamer, Dr. King was a revolu
tionary, Mr. Rivers reminded his
audience.
Mr. Rivers went on to explode
prevailing myths about the 85-
year-old civil rights organization.
Subscribe to
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“It is a myth that the NAACP is
run by white folks,” Mr. Rivers
said. “Of the $9 million operat
ing budget, only $1.2 million
comes from corporations. The
bulk of our money comes from
our branches across the nation,”
he said.
Mr. Rivers also challenged as
sertions that the NAACP was
not a grass-roots organization.
“Grass roots means that we work
at the root of the problem. That’s
exactly what we do,” Mr. Rivers
said. He answered the claim that
the NAACP could not relate to
young people by telling the audi
ence that, outside of the black
church,the NAACP has the most
active youth organization in the
nation.
Mr. Rivers encouraged Ag_h
gustans tosupport the local chap
ter with its dollars. “The dog
needs to be fed. We need a big
strong dog,” Mr. Rivers said.
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