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Progress-Index, 02/01/2006
DPI meeting has huge turnout
Julie Buchanan, Staff Writer
PETERSBURG - If last night’s crowd is any kind of indication, there are quite a few people interested in the revitalization of downtown Petersburg.
More than 300 people gathered upstairs at the Petersburg Regional Art Center to learn about a proposed public-planning process for the Downtown Harbor Initiative. Put on by Downtown Petersburg Inc., the meeting was a first step in guiding development that is anticipated after the dredging of the Appomattox River.
Terry Ammons, a local architect and member of DPI, said he was amazed at the turnout.
“We were thinking that this is where we'd be by our third meeting,” he said. “The challenge now is to keep this going.”
DPI hopes to bring in an outside team of professional architects and planners to conduct a study called a Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team program. The program has been implemented in hundreds of American cities and counties and is unique because the final outcome is based on community input.
“It's a really important time for Petersburg,” Ammons told the crowd. “Development is ongoing, we have new businesses and new restaurants. People are looking at Petersburg and things are going to happen whether we're ready for it or not.”
Dulaney Ward, a special projects consultant for the city, said the intensive study would cost between $30,000 to $50,000 and take up to one year to complete. DPI has already made a grant request to the Cameron Foundation for funding and will soon present the concept to Petersburg City Council.
“We can be ready if we get our act together,” he said.
Many who attended the meeting said they felt optimistic about a revitalized harbor district.
“This is a good foundation,” said Sharon Singleton, a Petersburg artist who hopes one day to open a business in a new downtown. “I want to see things happen. We need to draw some tourists in.”
“I was overwhelmed at the energy here,” said Nicholas G. Walker, a developer with the Roslyn Farm Corp. “You have a lot of people from different communities here. I think people could and want to contribute a lot.”
Anthony Hargraves, a Petersburg resident, said he is anxious for a revitalized downtown but would like to see the area veer a bit from its current image.
“We need other stores, nightclubs. Petersburg needs more of a nightlife, an adult atmosphere,” he said. “Something more like Shockoe Bottom. We don't need another antique store.”
* Julie Buchanan may be reached at 722-5155.
