Dream house: 'Historic artifact' could stoke further progress on Laney-Walker
Like an uncut diamond, the former home of the Rev. C.T. Walker in Augusta’s Laney-Walker neighborhood contains tremendous economic potential, local leaders said Wednesday.
A brief ceremony in front of the home at 1011 Laney-Walker Blvd. marked the city’s purchase of the house three months ago and hinted at the property’s future in the hands of the city’s Housing and Community Development, planning the next phases of the neighborhood’s ongoing revitalization.
“We will always preserve the legacy of this historic artifact, and we're going to work like heck to be sure that we create the highest and best use of an economic instrument that will be happy and gleeful and accepted by all who visit the boulevard,” said Hawthorne Welcher, director of Augusta Housing and Community Development.
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Back in time:Sept. 25, 1899: C.T. Walker said farewell, but is still remembered
Walker (1858-1921), born into slavery near Hephzibah, rose to prominence and influence worldwide in the 19th century as a minister, founding Tabernacle Baptist Church in 1885 and playing host to such historic giants as Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, John D. Rockefeller and William Howard Taft.
The vacant house, built in 1895, was bought by the preservation nonprofit Historic Augusta in 2016, but repairs and routine maintenance on the aging structure rendered it too costly for the organization to keep.
Augusta District 1 Commissioner Jordan Johnson had the opportunity to tour the house, which is currently boarded up to discourage trespassers. While he said “the architecture’s amazing,” even more amazing is “the legacy (of) the person who owned this home and added to this neighborhood and added to this city.”
Welcher also teased another announcement, expected in April, about the future of nearby municipal property, saying the Walker house could be “coupled” with other city-owned land.
On Nov. 29, 2022 – the same day the city’s nonprofit Augusta Land Bank Authority bought the Walker house – it also bought an office building at 1019-1021 Laney-Walker, at the corner of 11th Street, from Dr. Elijah Lightfoot. The building is less than 100 feet from the Walker house, separated by two small privately-owned lots.
The city also owns the lot across the street from the Walker house – the former site of Immaculate Conception School, which was demolished in 2012 and sold to the Land Bank Authority by the Catholic Diocese of Savannah in 2017.
The next use of the Walker house is still being considered.
“We want to be sure for the most part, that what we said and what the commission allowed for us to be able to do, that we do it to the highest and the best of our abilities,” Welcher said.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: With historic Laney-Walker home, city sees bright neighborhood future
