North Augusta officials held a crucial Project Jackson vote on Monday, allowing the new Augusta GreenJackets (Low A; Sally League) ballpark to move forward.
There has been several years of discussion surrounding Project Jackson, the mixed-use development that includes a new facility for the GreenJackets. Officials released a timeline last fall that called for the construction of the facility to begin this spring–with the opening planned for 2018–contingent on wrapping up some major components of the plan over the ensuing months.
One of the biggest parts of the agreement was finalized on Monday, which marked the third and final reading of the master development agreement. Mayor Lark Jones said that some other votes on the project must still take place, but that the vote on the master development agreement is a major step toward completing the ballpark. More from The Augusta Chronicle:
With third-reading approval, the mayor predicted that prime developer Greenstone would have an easier time getting leases for Project Jackson’s retail areas, “because people want to see progress.”
Despite the final OK, there are a “couple of loose ends,” Jones said.
The city still has to pass a bond ordinance and complete a stadium licensing agreement, but residents should see building activity going “full blast in the summertime,” he said. He’s confident the stadium will be holding GreenJacket games at the start of the 2018 season.
Preliminary work on the project began earlier this month, with crews carrying out tasks that relate largely to the site’s infrastructure.
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