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City saddled with costly
cleanup in bad land deal
‘When the City of Augusta purchased
the vacant low-rent Village Square
apartments in 1994 for $1.5 million, it
went broke not long after. Now, two
years later, scavengers have stripped
the windows, doors and fixtures and the
property still is not paid for. Further,
asbestos removal and demolition costs
could add another $700,000 to the total.
By Frederick Benjamin Sr.
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Anyone driving along
Damascus Road near the
Daniel Field Airport will
notice scores of vacant, de
caying structures — rem
nants of the former Village
Square apartments — that
line both sides of the road
way. These housing shells
are .completely open and
easily accessible to insects,
birds, rodents and ‘small
children.
Driving down one of the
desertedlanesintothe heart
of the gutted housing com
plex, one is greeted by an
eerie calm. While grass,
weeds and shrubs hide
walkways and stairways,
the neatly planted ever
gteens and perennials
Rarken back to a time when
Someone took the landscap
ihg seriously.
.- The story of these aban
doned buildings is a study
in wasted resources and
political wishful thinking.
: Before the city purchased
the property from realtor
Jack Bowles in 1994, over
#OO units teemed with life
and activity. It was home to
Bundreds of Augustans —
w@mostly black, mostly mar
ginal wage earnersand wel
fare recipients.
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The purchase price was
$1.5 million. The city
promptly paid half, but
couldn’t come up with the
rest.
Even when it advertised
for demolition bids, the city
required the demolition con
tractor to do the required
asbestos survey.
Hiram Thompson, of
Thompson Building and
Wrecking offered the low
est bid. Although his com
panyis licensed to do demo
lition and asbestos removal,
he never got to execute the
lucrative contract because
the city could not afford the
demolition and asbestos
abatement costs — about a
half a million dollars.
“We paid for the initial
testing,” Mr. Thompson
said. “In every one of the
units we looked at, we saw
asbestos.”
According to officials at
the state Environmental
Protection Agency, either
the owner or the contractor
of a property must test for
asbestos before any remod
eling or demolition would
be authorized. In the case of
remodeling, a test must be
done before and after.
According to Mr. Thomp
son, asbestos was lodged in
the floor tiles of the kitch
ens and the bathrooms
See ASBESTOS, page 3
Moreminoritiesenter Ph.D.
programsin 1995-96 period
MAY 23 - 29,1996 VOL. XV NO. 752
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One is greeted by an eerie calm. Photos by F. Benjamin
Shortly after
the bidding
became
public,
thieves went
- to work
removing the
aluminum
windows,
doors and
any other
material of
value.
The interior of every
unit is gutted and
accessible.
B More minorities are
entering business
doctorate programs
through the assis
tance of The PhD
Project, a program
designed to encourage
more minorities to
become business pro
fessors.
The number of African, Hispanic
and Native Americans entering
Ph.D. programs in the nation’s
business schools has surged 42
percent in the current academic
year, an extensive survey of uni
versities has found.
The extraordinary one-year in
crease shatters the myth that
qualified minorities do not want
careers as business school profes
sors, noted the PhD Project, which
conducted the survey. The prime
reason for gaining a Ph.D. in busi
ness is to become a professor.
Currently, 96 percent of the
nation’s business school faculty
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Currently, 96
percent of the
nation’s business
school faculty
members are white
— a number that
has barely
changed in
decades.
members are white — a number
that has barely changed in de
cades.
The survey of business schools
showed that the number of Afri
can, Hispanicand Native Ameri
cans entering business Ph.D.
programs rose from 97 in 1994-
1995 to 138 in 1995-96. The 42-
percent increase is believed to be
the greatest one-year rise in mi
nority enrollment ever recorded.
In contrast, in 1993, just 38
minorities earned Ph.D. degrees.
The 42-percentincrease comes
after the first year of operation
for The PhD Project, a nation-
wide drive by a partnership of
business and academia toiden
tify and encourage talented mi
norities, many of them already
successful in business, to be
come business school profes
sors. Creating more minority
professors, research indicates,
is a key first step toward the
project’s long-range goal to
draw more minorities into
undergraduate and graduate
business programs.
The PhD Project was cre
ated by KPMG Peat Marwick
with backing from the Gradu
ate Management Admission
Council(GMAC), Citibank, the
American Assembly of Colle
giate Schools of Business
(AACSB), Chrysler Corpora
tion, Fannie Mae Foundation,
Ford Motor Company, Gen
eral Mills, and Texaco.
Of the 138 1995-96 Ph.D.
candidates, more than half —
70 ofthem — were individuals
The PhD Project had reached
in the first year of its land
mark marketing recruiting
effort.
Allison Jones makes debut - 6
Woman claims
arrest unjust
B Public relations
police officer in
plain clothes
makes arrest at
ball park.
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
Lesley Crawford drove
her car to her son’s youth
baseball game in South
Augusta. She never imag
inedleaving the game hand
cuffed and in a police cruis
er.
Ms. Crawford, 28, and her
mother, Bonnie Crawford,
48, both of Hephzibah, were
arrested and charged with
disorderly conduct follow
ing a May 14 incident in
volving a Richmond Coun
ty Sheriff’s Department of
ficer.
According to the younger
Ms. Crawford, Lt. Leon
Garvin’s actions at a Dixie
Minor League baseball
gameinvolving her 10-year
old son Cameron, were un
warranted and bordered on
misuse of power.
In describing what led to
the arrests at Fleming Ath
letic Complex, 2001
Lumpkin Road, Lesley said
discrepancies in the scorers
box led to the umpire end
ing a contest between her
son’s team and another
squad.
The argument centered
around what time the game
started. Some youth league
games last for one hour or
six innings — whichever
comes first, according to
Mayfest no Freaknik,
family atmosphere
distinctive, organizer says
B Time of events
and state location
are the only
similarities.
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
What do Mayfest and
Freaknik have in common?
Both events are held in
the spring and in Georgia
cities starting with the let
ter A.
That’s where the compar
isonsend, according to Min
nesota Fattz of WFXA
(Foxie-103) radio, a co-or
ganizer of Mayfest.
“l heard someone say,
‘Hey, we have our own
Freaknik.” That’s not our
intentions,” said Fattz,
whose real name is Tim
Snell.
“We don’t ever want it to
get that crazy,” said the
morning disc jockey, refer
ring to the annual meeting
of African-American college
students in Atlanta.
Fattz, who doubles as
Foxie’s promotions director,
said the family atmosphere
is what distinguishes the
Augusta live music festival
from the notorious Atlanta
event. In April, Freaknik
was marred by the shooting
death of a Kent State col
lege student.,
Although some attendees
of Mayfest said gunfire oc
curred during the May 18
festival, whichis held at the
county-owned park located
on 4th Street near Gordon
BULKRATE
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AUGUSTA, GA
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Leslie Crawford
Richmond County Parks
and Recreation policy. In
this instance, the umpire
ended the game, with
Cameron’s team losing by
one run.
At this point, said Ms.
Crawford, someone re
marked the game didn’t
start until 5:45 p.m. “My
mother then used a swear
word when she said the
game couldn’t have started
then, because she was ‘home
on her a.. at that time.”
Upon hearing the older
woman use the A-word, Ms.
Crawford said Lt. Garvin,
who was apparently off duty
and sitting in the bleach
ers, advised her mother he
was with the Sheriff's De
partment and to curb the
bad language.
“l agreed with him and
told my mother to watch
her language — especially
in front of the kids. Garvin
then told me, ‘I wasn’t
talkin’ to you.’
“He then got in my face,
See ARRESTED, page 3
Highway. Capt. Ken Autrey
of the Richmond County
Sheriffs Department said
deputies never confirmed
any fired shots.
Fattz said gunshot ru
mors were unfounded. He
did say the show was cut
short because of a crowd
stampede, which headed to
ward the stage. “Someone
let a pet snake get loose
from around their neck,”
said the deejay. The affect
ed portion of the show can
celed performances by head
liners H-Town and Silk.
Capt. Autrey said crowd
and traffic control was a
problem. Only 21 deputies
were on-hand to maintain a
group estimated at 25,000.
“Next year, they (organiz
ers)may want to think about
holding this at another lo
cation,” said Capt. Autrey
— noting that May Park
may no longer be able to
accommodate the increas
ingly popular festival.
“To move it would take
away from the tradition,”
said Fattz. “It’s a good
chance we’ll be back next
year.,”
Augusta Focus was un
able toreach Tommy Boyles
of the Augusta-Richmond
County Parks and Recre
ation Department. Mr.
Boyles, a manager in the
department, would report
edly decide whether exces
sive crowds will affect fu
ture use of the facility in
1997.
Other Mayfest sponsors
are Parks and Recreation,
and WAGT-Channel 26.