AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – They were posing at the James Brown statue, hoping it’s not the final farewell.“We just came to take a picture with the statue because we heard they are going to be moving it because of construction. We didn’t know if they are going to bring it back, so this is our chance to get a picture,” said Kenyetia Baker.The Brown statue is moving to the museum temporarily where it will be placed in storage, as its home for 20 years is turned into the new James Brown Linear Park, stretching the entire 800 block of Broad Street.“To uplift this park because it’s already there, James Brown Park is already there, just up lifting and also acknowledging out own icon,” said Hameed Malik, Augusta Engineering Department Director.The uplift will include a new stage for the Brown Statue facing a large fountain. Landscaping, shade structures, and his music will be there to entertain visitors.“The James Brown Linear Park is going to be fantastic. It’s going to have music, it’s going to have album covers, of course it’s going to have the statue, it’s going to have a fountain that is tuned to his songs,” said Nancy Glaser, Executive Director Augusta Museum of History.The upgrades should bring needed improvements for visitors.
“You don’t notice the James Brown until you actually get out of the car, so I feel like if you’re going to bring a bigger better statement to his name, we definitely should.” said Baker.Work will take about a year, but when the statue returns, it will still face the same direction, so the abandoned buildings will remain as the background for pictures. “There will be other features around it shade structures and all that so hopefully that will offset some of that,” said Malik. The city is getting down to work on James Brown Park…