Category: Whats New 2021

• Residential & Commercial • Sales • Installation • Service

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New medical facilities offer increasing options to Columbia County residents.

One perk that attracts people, from young families to retirees, to the area is the access to healthcare. For Columbia County residents, these facilities keep getting closer.

Scott Johnson, the county manager, says county and Augusta University Health officials are in constant contact about the construction of a new hospital in the Gateway area near Grovetown.

According to Johnson, county and AU Health officials are working to craft a memorandum of understanding to issue bonds for the construction of the $150 million hospital.

Originally, the county committed to paying 20% of the construction costs, which would have totaled $30 million. However, Johnson says, the two parties have moved away from the 20% contribution to issuing bonds for 100% of the project.

“All of it would be paid by the hospital, but the bonds would satisfy the county’s legal requirement,” he adds.

Johnson expects to see “some movement on the project” by the early summer of 2023.

“The hospital is under design,” he says. “The state has put in additional dollars to help with the design and to keep the project going.”

Another upcoming medical facility in the county includes Piedmont Occupational Medicine Prompt Care, which is under construction on a 2.6-acre site on Appling Harlem Road near Interstate 20. The 12,250-square-foot facility could be completed in the fourth quarter of 2022 or the first quarter of 2023.

A Kids Street Urgent Care opened earlier this year on Washington Road in Martinez in the former location of The Wicker Barn. A new Fastest Labs opened a new location on Columbia Road in the Columbia County Medical Center in June.

Earlier this year, Beach Medical opened on North Louisville Road in Harlem, and 7 Seas Medical Spa opened a new location on Meridian Drive in Grovetown.

Look for lots of additions to Columbia County School District and other educational facilities.

The Columbia County School District has big plans.

In August, district personnel presented the Board of Education with a 10-year building program proposal that will equip county schools to accommodate continued growth projections, while focusing on modernization and upgrades to existing facilities.

Steven Flynt, superintendent of schools, says the district developed the program as part of its five-year strategic plan, and it surveyed people in the community to find out what they wanted in their school district.

“Early on, we heard a lot about aging facilities and the need for updates to schools,” he says. “We decided it would be more effective to project 10 years out and let the community know what was going to happen and when it would happen.”

District officials also worked with consultants and enrollment forecasters to develop the plan for 2022-32.

In the meantime, several schools started the 2022-23 academic year with a new look.

Grovetown and Harlem high schools opened with 22 additional classrooms in August, and Greenbrier Middle School has a new 12-classroom addition.

Classroom additions also are underway at Harlem and Columbia middle schools, and site work has begun for a 12-classroom addition to Euchee Creek Elementary School.

“Right now we’re focused on making sure we get all of our additions built so we can get students in regular classrooms,” says Flynt.

The athletic fields at all five county high schools also got a facelift in the past year, replacing the grass with artificial turf to increase useability.

“We can use the fields for practice, games and right after inclement weather because we put in drainage,” says Flynt.

A softer rubber in-fill of a lighter color was installed as well.

“The new fields don’t absorb as much heat,” Flynt says. “They are 20 percent cooler than fields with black rubber in-fill. We also put pads under the fields that cushion the landing when students fall.”

As part of the project, all of the high school tracks also got an upgrade. With the exception of Evans High, the tracks are eight-lane competition tracks.

The upgrade of the Lakeside tracks, which are separate from the stadium, was expected to get underway in September. Flynt says this project should take about a month to complete.

The cost of each track upgrade was about $700,000, and each one has an eight- to 10-year warranty.

In the next several years, some older elementary school buildings will be replaced with new facilities as well.

Westmont Elementary School, which opened in 1970, was demolished this summer, and construction of a new building will take place at the same location. Site work is expected to begin soon, and the new facility is scheduled to open in the 2024-25 school year with a capacity to hold 875 students.

The school district closed on property in August next to North Columbia Elementary School for the construction of a new building. The school currently has 450 students, but the new facility will have a 762-student capacity. Site work has begun, and the new building is expected to open for the 2025-26 academic year.

The school district tore down the old North Harlem Elementary School building several months ago, and it also plans to decommission the current South Columbia Elementary facility, built in 1968, in the 2024-25 school year. Even though the building will be torn down, Flynt says, the district plans to hold on to the land.

In the private school sector, site work has begun at Savannah River Academy on Old South Belair Road in Grovetown. The school is constructing two new buildings totaling 13,000 square feet, and the expansion is expected to accommodate up to 200 students from preschool to eighth grade.

Construction is underway at Goodwill’s Helms College at the corner of Furys Ferry and Washington roads as well. The college is adding a hemodialysis center for students at the former Final Cut site, building a 3,000-square-foot commercial kitchen onsite and converting the former Georgia Bank & Trust building into a welcome center. The 10-acre campus will be just under 100,000 square feet upon completion.

Junior Achievement Discovery Center Planned

The Columbia County Board of Education has partnered with Junior Achievement and the Richmond County School System to add a Junior Achievement Discovery Center at the Student Support Complex on River Watch Parkway.

Scheduled to open in the fall of 2023, the Discovery Center will serve 15,000 middle school students annually and offer two programs – JA BizTown and JA Finance Park.

Through JA BizTown, sixth graders will interact within a simulated economy and take on the challenge of running a business. Because BizTown will be made up of 18 storefronts featuring local businesses, students will realize the opportunities available in their hometown.

“It will look like a little CSRA,” says Steven Flynt, Columbia County superintendent of schools.

JA Finance Park lets seventh or eighth grade students experience adulthood and learn how to provide for a household. Guided by an assigned “life situation,” students will participate in a simulation that helps them develop skills to navigate today’s economic environment and understand how current decisions affect the future.

Flynt says local residents will have opportunities to volunteer with the program, and classroom work will supplement the concepts students learn at the Discovery Center.

The two school districts will split the cost of building the 30,000-square-foot Discovery Center, and Junior Achievement will run the facility.

Currently, the school systems are finalizing the architectural design of the center, which will be the sixth one in the state.

Recreational and entertainment amenities play a large part in the county’s appeal.

With the Savannah River, Clarks Hill Lake and extensive hiking and biking trails, Columbia County is a natural outdoor playground. However, planned recreation and new performing arts opportunities enhance leisure time as well.

County officials have been working on Recreate Columbia County, a master plan for recreation, since last year, and John Luton, director of Community & Leisure Services, anticipates that the plan will be finished by the end of 2022.

If voters approve the 2023-28 SPLOST proposal in November, he says, its recreation projects will be incorporated into the master plan and “guide us from 2023 moving forward.”

The new SPLOST proposal would total $288 million in spending. In the meantime, however, park projects that were approved in the 2017-22 SPLOST are continuing.

At Blanchard Park, a new roadway that connects the park with Columbia Road is almost complete. Other projects include improving the athletic fields, reconfiguring the park and adding eight to 12 pickleball courts.

“There’s a real need and desire for more pickleball courts in the county, and this is a good area for them,” says Luton.

Currently, the county is in the conceptual phases of Riverwood Park on Hardy McManus Road. Luton says this park, modeled after Gateway Park, will include passive open space, a walking trail and a splash pad. He also says Riverwood Park is a prime location for mountain bike trails.

“There will be trails there to some extent,” says Luton. “How comprehensive the trail system can be will be dictated by the funding that’s available.”

Design work for Riverwood Park could begin late this year or early next year.

“We have a certain amount of funding available now as well as some in the next SPLOST,” Luton says. “SPLOST will dictate the level of amenities we can provide there.”

At Savannah Rapids Park new playground equipment, which totaled about $220,000, should be installed this month and poured-in-place rubber surfacing will replace the mulch on the ground. These upgrades are occurring in conjunction with a parking lot project, which is expected to be completed in the spring or summer.

From BMX and youth soccer to corn hole, disc golf and collegiate soccer, he says sporting events and tournaments held in the county last year had an economic impact of just under $3 million.

“As we develop more parks, we develop them with sports tourism in mind,” says Luton.

In Harlem, the half-mile Sandy Run Creek Trail is nearing completion. “We understand that several residents have already utilized the trail, both walking and riding bikes,” says Debra Moore, city manager.

(Birds, butterflies and dragonflies have discovered the natural habitat around the trail as well.)

The city of Grovetown has made improvements to its public parks, including the restoration of the pavilion and the addition of pickleball courts at Goodale Park.

At Liberty Park, the ball fields have been restored and the concession stand and restrooms have been refurbished. Renovations also include the addition of new scoreboards and updates to existing scoreboards.

In addition, Liberty Park’s community center is being updated with improvements to the gym and painting of the interior.

A new depot project is underway in Grovetown as well. The city has plans to recreate the old Grovetown railroad depot across from City Hall at East Robinson and Railroad avenues.

The 4,000-square-foot, publicly owned building will be able to accommodate 170 guests for community activities. Slated for completion sometime next year, the depot will include a catering kitchen.

The arts provide plenty of entertainment for Columbia County residents as well.

While the county hopes to measure the economic impact of the Performing Arts Center in 2023, Luton says the facility has “struck a good balance” with the type of activities it has drawn. Events have included Broadway musicals, community theater performances, dance recitals, fundraisers and high school graduations.

“I think the community has shown a lot of pride in the PAC,” Luton says.

Construction also got underway in June on Enopion Theatre’s 156-seat Flowing Wells Theatre in Martinez. The $2.1 million project is scheduled for completion by the end of the year.

As a lifelong resident of Columbia County, Misty Johnson’s goal is to put her client’s needs first. With her experience in customer service, military relocation (MRP) and vast local knowledge, she will do just that! Whether it is new construction, resale or an estate, Misty knows what it takes to close the deal.

LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE
706-993-5583 or office: 706-955-6436

MISTY@SUMMERHOUSEREALTY.COM