Newspaper Page Text
Inner-city shopping plaza
eloser to 100% occupancy
M Regional planners
view development
as model of urban
enterprise in blighted
gconomic areas.
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
< AUGUSTA
_After years of failing to meet
great expectations thrust upon
it, Armstrong Galleria Shopping
Centeris finally approaching full
oecupancy, and it's winning re
gipnal attention in the process.
", Augusta City Councilwoman
Margaret Armstrong had a vi
sion, an unthinkable vision, of
constructing a million dollar
shopping center in one of Augus
ta’s most blighted inner-city com
munities.
,E’oday, bearing her name,
Armstrong Galleria stands out
on Laney-Walker Boulevard and
is familiar to out-of-state elected
officials who think it to be a mod
el project.
For the past six years, Ms.
Armstrong has met twice a year
in Washington, D.C., with the
National League of Cities, a meet
ing of elected officials from across
the country.
~Ms. Armstrong’s boasting
about Augusta’s inner-city de
vélopments prompted city offi
cials from Memphis, Tenn. to
visit the shopping center.
“After all of the talking I've
_done about it, and because of
{ F.A. Johnson Management Con
: sultants, people wanted to see
! this success in the heart of the
i ghetto,” she said.
| Memphis officials and repre
| sentatives of F.A. Johnson Man
agement Consultant Firm, which
oversaw the project, are sched
uled to visit the shopping center
again soon.
“They’re planning to use
Armstrong Galleria as a model
for a shopping center that they
want tobuild in their inner-city,”
Ms. Armstrong said.
The recent positive attention
that Armstrong Galleria is get
ting is a welcomed change from
its usual publicity.
Since the beginning, according
to Ms. Armstrong, it was hard
convincing the right people that
the corner of Ninth Street and
Laney-Walker Boulevard was a
smart location.
“I told the former chairman of
the Chamber of Commerce to
come down here and see how
terrible the place looked,” she
said.
“I told him, ‘this is what people
have to pass through to get to
your river (developed downtown
areas along the Savannah Riv
er)’”
After persuadingthem that the
area was in desperate need of a
major overhaul and having the
buildings constructed, business
was slow, as prospective tenants
could not afford to occupy the
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Grade A Fancy: the highest grade recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture. That means only the very
best beans go into our cans. Truth is, all Publix brand canned vegetables have to meet this higher standard. National brands
don’t. Other store brands don’t. It’s just another way you get a good deal more from Publix. So if its all the same to you,
you may want to take a closer look at Publix brand, you’'ll not only see a remarkable difference, you'll taste it.
GRADE A FANCY VEGETABLES. HIGH QUALITY, LOW PRICES. g
LLocalNews
spaces.
Now, however, anchored by
Gurley’s Supermarket, the facil
ity is nearly full. Owners, all
except one who are black, are
proud to be housed in such an
attractive facility located where
some had written off as econom
ically hopeless.
Ironically, it is the same loca
tion that was once the hub of the
“Golden Blocks,” black Augus
ta’s thriving business and enter
tainment district.
In addition to Armstrong Gal
leria, other businesses, includ
ing the Business and Technology
Center, The Walker Group and
most recently BL’s Restaurant,
have contributed to revitalizing
the Laney-Walker area.
“I'm going to sell what we’re
doing in the heart of Augusta
wherever I go,” Ms. Armstrong
said as she gave a tour of the
shopping center.
Ms. Armstrong said the com
pletion of Armstrong Galleria
marked the end of phase one of
development for the Laney-
Walker corridor. The two re
maining phases are housing con
struction and expansion of the
shopping center.
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Is the Dream Near Realization?
Once the hub of the economic and entertainment center of the Laney-Walker Historic district,
property on the comer of 9th (James Brown Boulevard) and Gwinnett (Laney-Walker Boulevard)
fell victim to urban blight. The Armstrong Galleria (above) is set to fulfill its promise of full occu
pancy.
EDUCATION
Needs are unmet, teachers say
By Rhonda Jones
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
According to a recent survey,
over 30 percent of teachers,
grades K-8, do not have the re
sources to support their teaching
approaches.
The anonymous survey was
conducted in March by the su
perintendent’s office. The admin
istration’s intent, stated at the
top of the survey, was to “obtain
information from (teachers) that
will assist the school system’s
administration in reporting to
the Board of Education concern
ing the implementation of whole
language.”
Out-going superintendent
John P. Strelec preferred to think
the glass was half full, insisting
that the “overwhelming majori
AUGUSTA FOCUS April 27, 1995
ty” said they have what they
need.
He also suggested a misinter
pretation ofthe question by some
teachers, saying, “Sometimes the
materials are there, they're just
not being used,” and “Sometimes,
the more they have, the more
they want.”
PTA representative Eileen
Faucette said that the PTA’s “in
teraction with teachers has not
been that they don’t get what
they need,” but that she had
heard of such complaints from
Warren Road Elementary and
Rollins Elementary.
Rollins principal Frank
Simmons denies knowledge of
any such complaints, and says
that his teachers have always
been able to get what they need
ed, and that he tries to meet their
“special desires” within the con
straints of his budget.
“We could always use more,”
he said, and blames “uncertain
ty about the whole language pro
gram” for the concern about ma
terials. Tohis knowledge, he said,
the “controversy concerning ma
terial” centers around K-2 work
books.
According to Warren Road
principal Peter Paige, the School
Board did choose, last year, not
to send out consumable work
books. “But that was county
wide,” he said. “Everyone has
what they need now.”
A parent, who is close to this
issue said, “A lot of teachers who
are screaming about not getting
workbooks are not interacting
with the students ...” and calls
consumable workbooks “canned
teaching”
3
