Newspaper Page Text
Battle plans being drawn
for Regency Mall rebirth
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THE REVITALIZATION OF REGENCY MALL is on the drawing board. Representatives of the
. . .
new owners believe that the area has the population to support two major mallis.
Photo by Jimmy Carter
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Despite its drastic drop in busi
ness and the negative perception
that many people have of it, ru
mors about Regency Mall’s going
out of business are far from true,
according to professionals hired
to revitalize the mall.
At a recent South Richmond
County Pride and Progress Com
mittee meeting, investment spe
cialists with CB Commercial Co.
discussed plans for the struggling
Regency Mall with an audience of
about 70 people,.
According to Gary Saykaly, an
investment specialist with CB
Commercial Co., Regency Mall
and Augusta Mall — both built in
1978 — were competitive until
the latter improved its facilities,
and the other didn’t.
“If you look at where Augusta
Mall came in and upgraded in the
late 'Bos or early '9os and added
JC Penney and Sears, you can
Ti me to gEt M MAD Students address negative behavior among their peers.
By Rhonda Jones
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
A group of five students at
Edward E. Murphey Middle
School are not gonna take it any
more. They're MMAD —
Murphey Mavericks Against
Destruction — and they are pre
pared to take a stand against the
negativity they're tired of wit
nessing in their fellow students.
Eighth-grader Tammatha
Patterson started her third and
final year at Murphey with a
plan. She wanted to get together
a team of students to serve as a
peer counsel group for helping to
defuse explosive situations
among the students. But she
needed help.
“She presented it to me in an
intelligent fashion and I got be
hind her 100 percent,” said
Samuel Dasher, Tammatha’s
science teacher. He said it will be
good to see students working to
solve their own problems, that it
will alleviate some of the need
for faculty involvement and dis
ciplinary action.
Some of the destructive be
haviors she hopes to curb are
fighting, disrespect of adults and
other students, drug use, teen
pregnancy, and failing grades.
“What about those people who
don’t come to school prepared?’
asked Principal Winnette Brad
ley. Tammatha, who is the
group’s president, assured her
they would be a top priority.
“Mainly what I want to do,”
Tammatha said, “is help out the
best I can.”
Both she and the group’s vice
president, Vadine Chandler,
wonder what causes their fellow
students to act out. “Those fight
ers,” Tammatha said, “what are
they fighting for? Nothing. ... 1
Problems identified at Regency Mall
B Poor merchandising mix.
I Unkept grounds at the Gordon Highway entrance.
M Inadequate signage.
B Lack of a main mall entrance.
M Lack of a food court.
B Qutdated interior.
basically mark that as the point
that Regency Mall saw its de
mise,” Mr. Saykaly said.
“Regency Mall can survive. Itis
aviable mall. The previous owner
(Debartolo) just gave up and
stopped putting moneéy into the
mall. Also, the negative press in
the market place didn’t help out
at all,” he said.
Under new ownership by Equi
table since the start of the year,
Regency Mall’s faults are soon to
be corrected, Mr. Saykaly.
A common complaint about the
mall has been poor security, but
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Eighth-grader Tammatha Patterson wanted to get together
a team of students to serve as a peer counsel group to help
defuse explosive situations. Photo by Jimmy Carter
know my mama and daddy didn’t
send me to school to fight.”
Vadine shook her head. “What
makes them do it?”
Mrs. Bradley was enthusias
tic. “There are a lot of students
who are against destruction,” she
said, but lamented the lack of
parental initiative.
She said that, just since the
beginning of this school year,
there have been “a number of”
fights, “even on eighth-grade
hall? |
But she did have some good
news. No one has been suspend
ed twice since the school year
started last month, a fact she
sees as a good sign. She attributes
this in part to the way she han
dles the kids, having offenders
hug each other in the office, in
front of the parents. It makes
them very willing, she said, to
shake hands and smile at one
Local News
the new owners have already re
placed the former security com
pany.
Although some members of the
audience said fear has kept them
away from Regency Mall, man;
said it's never been a question of
safety, but an unappealing ap
pearance and a poor shopping
selection that make them choose
other locations.
An overview conducted by Mr.
Saykaly and his associate, Chris
Decousle, found these to be the
mall’s main problems:
({Left) Tammatha Patterson,
president, MMAD.
(Below) Lynn Quiles, trea
surer MMAD
: ¥ %’*"";‘””‘
F. R & o B
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4
another, and gets their minds off
what they were fighting about.
Mr. Dasher agrees that get
ting angry students’ minds off
their conflict is often a good way
to throw water on potentially
heated situations, and suggests
that the MMAD group use the
same method. Just get them to
talk, he advised the future peer
counselors. “It doesn’t even have
to be about the fight. ... Just get
them out of a bad situation.”
The Reverend Larry Fryer, a
community religious leader and
another branch in the group’s
network of support, was full of
helpful words. “You are now plac
ing yourselves as leaders,” he
said. He advised the girls that,
as role models for their peers.
they would have to stick to the
code of conduct they set forth for
the other students. This means
keeping grades up, “keeping
B Poor merchandising mix.
B Unkept grounds at the
Gordon Highway entrance.
B Inadequate signage.
B Lack of a main mall
entrance.
B Lack of a food court.
B Outdated interior.
“When you walk in there, it’s
hard not to get depressed,” Mr.
Saykaly said of the dim lighting
and dark carpeting that were typ
ical in malls in the 19605.
Regency Mall needs a brighter
and more inviting look — much
like that of Augusta Mall, Mr.
Saykaly said.
But even with bright lights and
colorful carpet, Regency Mallisn’t
expected to reach the status of
Augusta Mall.
“Although Regency Mall can
once again be competitive, it is
unreasonable to think that it will
be equal to Augusta Mall,” Mr.
Decousle said.
With that in mind, a new con
cept such as an outlet center, that
wouldn’t place it in direct compe
tition with the thriving Augusta
Mall, is likely for Regency Mall's
future.
Not everyone was favorable to
the idea, however, insisting that
South Richmond County resi
dents need a fashion mall and
don’t want to see Regency Mall
“deteriorate to a ‘dollar store’.”
Another threat to Regency
Mall's future are construction
plans for a mall in neighboring
Columbia County, Mr. Saykaly
said.
Richmond C'ounty Commission
er Moses Todd disagreed, saying
a third mall shouldn’t hurt Re
gency Mall because the market in
both counties is large enough to
support three malls.
Pressed by Richmond County
Commissioner Henry Brigham for
a time frame for improvement
strategies tobeimplemented, Mr.
Saykaly or Mr. Decousle were
unable to give a definite answer.
[their] heads cool,” and working
with authority figures. “You have
to be very supportive of your
principal,” he said. “You have to
support her.”
He cautioned them to keep
records of the students they coun
sel, and to keep the conversa
tions with these students confi
dential.
As a condition of his support,
however, he told the group of
young black females that they
would have to “diversify.” They
have since welcomed two males
to the group, one black and one
white
The MMAD club falls right in
line with Rev. Fryer’s plans to
“adopt” Murphey Middle School,
as partofthe General Conference
of the Christian Methodist Epis
copal (CME) Church’s One
Church/ One School Program.
Part ofhis job as adopter will be to
Merger anxiety
From page one
hefore it's finished. What’s sup
posed to hapnen in the mean
time? Let it continue to rain in
there? A smart business person
would renovate that library, but
I guess there aren’t any smart
business people on Community
Development ”
Wednesday’'s Consolidation
Task Force Meeting was the are
na for another political bout that
showed the divisiveness between
the county and city.
County Administrator Linda
Beazley, who suggested in last
AUGUSTA FOCUS September 28, 1995
‘Gifted’ programs
From page one
sidering the Board’s proposals.
In a few weeks he will be ready to
make his recommendations to
the Legislature, who will give
the final word at next year’s ses
sion.
Another feature of the new
system, said Ms. LaVack, is that
there would be two separate pro
grams: one for academic achieve
ment and one for creative
achievement. “You wouldn’t
want-— as Linda (Schrenko) said
— Einstein and Baryshnikov in
the same program.”
Richmond County School
Board President Kenneth Echols
likes the idea of local systems
having the prerogative of using
the extra criteria because, he
says, “... all children are differ
ent.” When asked if he would be
in favor of Richmond County
using the extra criteria, he re
plied, “Yeah.”
But gifted-education teacher
Barbara Fitzgerald feels that the
“subjective” nature of the new
criteria could lead to “mass con
fusion and lawsuits.”
State Superintendent Linda
Schrenko doesn’t put much stock
in those worries. “As for the spe
cific concern that it is difficult to
define what is a gifted musical
selo or dramatic performance
and what is not,” she said in a
published statement, “I can only
respond that the level of talent
necessary to make a stadent el
igible for consideration for the
School Board
From page one
At the conclusion of the meet
ing, supporters of Dr. Wilham
Smith were still frustrated and
support for Dr. Washington had
not eroded.
Despite reports to the contrary
emanating from other media
sources, school board members
Kingsley Riley, Adna Stein, Y.N.
Myers dJr., Johnnie Jackson and
Mr. Jefferson still support the
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ONE CHURCH - ONE SCHOOL: The Rev. Larry Fryer has
“adopted” Murphey Middle School. Here he discusses
matters with MMAD members.
meet monthly with “academicand
social at-risk students,” and pro
vide counseling and “conflict res
olution strategies.” He will alsobe
hosting monthly educational so-
week’s meeting that the city’s
and county’s personnel and fi
nance departments be immedi
ately merged, took the floor to
confront Mayor Charles A.
DeVaney.
“I just wanted to clear up my
comments from last week which
seem to have escalated into a
real controversy, and I'm very
well aware that I have been de
graded for even making arecom
mendation to this committee,”
she said.
According to Ms. Beazley, Mr.
DeVaney has “degraded” the
county by falsely accusing them
of having secret meetings and
gifted program will, by defini
tion, be extraordinary. Certain
ly, aband or drama director — or
science or math teacher — will
be able to identify the kind of
talented student who stands
apart from the rest.”
She assures parents and edu
cators that “the standards for
admission into the program re
main extremely high and objec
tive, and there is absolutely noth
ing in this new rule that will, as
some critics have suggested, ‘al
low school administrators and
teachers to simply play favorites
by assigning unqualified stu
dents to the gifted program.”
As for the minority quota-sys
tem issue, Ms. Fitzgerald said
that, though she would “hate to
make a guess” as to how many of
her 300 students are non-white,
the high-school system has “a
pretty good ratio.”
“We are not skewed in Rich
mond County ...” she said. “We
arevery unbiased.” She said that
the school system has made a
point to go into schools where
minority students will have the
opportunity to be tested for the
programs.
Richmond County School
Board trustee Jeff Annis feels
that the whole discussion is pre
mature. “I don’t think any of
that is going to happen,” he said,
referring to the changes them
selves. However, he said that, if
the issue were to come up, he
would “wait and see what the
administration said.”
candidacy of Dr. Hattie Wash
ington and by most accounts, the
black community supports their
stance. The vote for Dr. Wash
ington broke along racial lines
— b 5 blacks for - 5 whites against.
“Everywherel turn, people are
saying, you all stay together,”
said Ms. Riley. “We need to get
on the wall and stay there.”
The board members who sup
port Dr. Washington are feeling
no pressure from their constitu
ents, according to board member
Adna Stein. They plan to hoid fast.
rums in “selected communities.”
Tammatha said she hopes to
eventually take the program out.
of her school and into the com
munity itself.
implying that she had a hidden
agenda for her recommenda
tions.
As she proceeded in her face
off with the mayor and each ques
tioned the other’s professional
ism, Mr. DeVaney reminded her
that he was running the meet
ing.
“I think you're way out of order
Ms. Beazley, and you know it,”
Mr. DeVaney said. “You're get
ting personalities involved, and
this is exactly wrong. You will
walk out of here and regret much
of what you have said today be
cause you know it’s not true.”
3