Augusta Audits City’s Parks to Reconsider Community Needs

Augusta has launched an extensive audit of its more than 70 parks to determine how frequently residents use these spaces. The results could influence future maintenance and resource allocations for the parks.

After two months of data gathering, including using footage obtained from the cameras, city officials will study the results to determine whether to allocate resources to certain parks or consider closing underused ones. Data collection for the audit consists of cameras installed in each park that capture images every 15 minutes.

While some officials are considering reducing maintenance and park resource costs by shuttering underused parks and focusing on high-use ones, community members are speaking out about the negative effects that any park closure could have on neighborhoods, especially parks that serve low-income areas.

“Low-income areas require parks because a lot of people can't afford gym memberships. Parks provide that green space,” said Augusta resident Daniel Scheiner in a statement shared with WRDW and WAGT. “If we're gonna have a Garden City, we need to make sure that we have a garden of cities like it. We should have a lot of green spaces for our community. That's what we pay for. That's what our taxes should be going to.” 

Scheiner is among several individuals who highlighted the importance of incorporating qualitative factors such as community sentiment and cultural significance into decision-making.

City leaders will not receive the full results from the audit until the end of September.