Everything in life has consequences, good or bad. When it comes to revitalizing cities, neighborhoods or business districts, the bonuses are an increased number of local businesses, increased foot traffic which leads to increased sales and an overall positive experience for those who live, work, shop and eat in those areas. On the opposite end, a few of the negatives are higher property values which can drive original residents out of their longtime homes and erase the cultures and histories that exist within.
Leaders and officials with the Danville Office of Economic Development & Tourism (DOEDT), the River District Association (RDA) and the city of Danville realize this phenomenon and have been working hard to make sure this doesn’t happen during the revitalization of the River District or specifically to this article, the historic Mechanicsville district.
Last month, leaders and planners with the DOEDT and RDA announced the launch of Plan Mechanicsville, phase two of the River District Redevelopment plan, designed to carry on the district’s recent momentum into the historic district defined by the boundaries of Poplar, Ridge and High streets along with Memorial Drive. The plan aims to revitalize the historic district into a vibrant center for both business and residential life.
The first phase of the revitalization project was to hear from the residents through community meetings, surveys and workshops, two of which have already been held, and the third is scheduled Nov. 15 in the form of a block party that will be held from 12-3 p.m. on North Union Street where community members can come by and not only share their visions and wants but enjoy a wide array of food and entertainment and get to know their neighbors.
These ideas and concerns will then be used to develop the final master plan which will be developed by the end of the spring.
“We’ve been very vocal, you tell us what you want, what do you need?” said Samantha Bagbey, project manager for the DOEDT. “I think I asked someone recently, ‘what is your dream? What do you want over here?’ Nothing is too crazy in my opinion because we don’t want to come in and say, here’s what it is, here’s what we’re doing. We don’t want you to feel like you’re being abandoned or ignored along the way and I think that’s so important. I think any good city, any good economic development group and community development have to ask how does this effect people? I think any good city, any good economic development and community development group has to ask, ‘how does this decision affect the people?’ What are the pros, what are the cons and how do we mitigate those cons because you don’t want to leave anybody behind.”
“We want people who live, work, spend time in the community to come interact with us and tell us what they’re really looking for and what they really want this community to look like and feel like so that’s what’s most important here,” said Alyssa Turner, Interim Executive Director of the RDA. “We’re really driving that community involvement with this project because that’s going to determine what the consulting firm comes up with.”
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Mechanicsville was an ethnically mixed neighborhood home to the tradesmen, educators, skilled workers and laborers of Danville’s textile and tobacco industries. After the Civil War, African-Americans comprised a majority of the tobacco labor force and as a result, Mechanicsville and the “Dan Hill” region south of Main Street became home to freedmen following the Civil War.
Years later, the area became an important part of the Civil Rights Movement as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at High Street Baptist Church twice.
While it would probably make things much easier for the RDA, DOEDT and city officials to ignore the neighborhood’s history in their revitalization plans, none involved believe in taking the easy road and are determined to make sure that history isn’t lost along the way.
“The city and area has so much history so the richness of it makes it that more important to make sure we highlight that history and as we’re going through these districts and revitalizing everything, we want to keep that intact,” Turner said. “You have to straddle the line between revitalizing and keeping that history intact. We have to upgrade the area and make it more modern, but we also have to make sure we preserve what is already there and that’s highlighted in the work.”
Bagbey added, “we all know the history behind it, you have the lives of all these people that lived over here and spent generations working for Dan River and that we have to make sure that is preserved. Somebody told me one day that people that lived over there, the people that are still there, their stories are going to end unless we do something to preserve them. So. How do we help continue preserving those stories and keeping those stories alive? Also, how do we help bring these residents along and help meet them where they’re at? How do we meet their needs and demands as well and give them the same opportunities we’ve able to give the same areas that we’ve worked on so far.”
One of the bonuses Bagbey and Turner have going for them is they’re both local to Southside Virginia with both growing up in the Halifax County and South Boston communities, something that has given them extra motivation throughout the whole process.
“My husband and I, our first date was at the movie theatre so now to be back here and see the growth and see the things and be able to remember what it looked like before and what we’re doing now, it’s so amazing, it’s amazing to be a part of it and to have a hand in it,” Bagbey said. “When you work for local government and in these types of roles, you have to have a servants heart and a desire to make sure you’re doing others right and care about your community. You have to care about wanting to see everybody do better and everybody coming along.”
Turner added, “I grew up in South Boston so I’ve been coming to Danville as a kid and as a teenager and now I live and work here and the more I’m in this work, there’s so much I was not aware of. Even now, they’re still things I’m learning that I had no idea of so it’s really amazing to be a part of this, a part of the revitalization and a part of making sure everybody comes along and that the success is felt throughout the whole community.”
Read the original article here (Davin Wilson, Chatham Star Tribune)