For downtown Danville, a roller coaster ride

Posted by Danville River District News on May 06, 2015
Uncategorized / Comments Off on For downtown Danville, a roller coaster ride

BY DENICE THIBODEAU 

(434) 791-7985

In the early years of the 1900s, Danville’s downtown flourished, and locals who have spent their lives here often talk about childhoods that included trips downtown for shopping.

Photos from the 1940s, 50s and into the 60s show crowded sidewalks and a lot of stores — downtown Danville was where everyone went to shop, catch a movie or conduct business.

On a busy Saturday, people often had to park in the tobacco district and walk to Main Street to shop at Belk-Leggett, Harnsberger’s, Rippe’s, Abe Koplen Clothing, Sears, Woolworth, Thalhimers and other popular shops. But the most exciting times to shop were during the Christmas season and Dollar Days.
Unlike today, when consumers are bombarded with sale flyers constantly, Dollar Days — special sales at almost all the stores downtown in February and August — drew huge crowds looking for bargains.
In a 1995 Danville Register & Bee article, the former manager if Thalhimers, Vernell Cassada, said crowds would be so thick during Dollar Days police were called in to let people into the stores a few at a time. Cassada said people waited up to an hour to get into the best stores for the biggest bargains.
Christmas shopping — which went into full swing after the annual Christmas parade — also drew crowds downtown. In 1995, Albert Koplen, then president of Abe Koplen Clothing, remembered having customers on Christmas Eve until it turned into the wee hours of Christmas Day.
During the summer, farmers sold fried chicken, cakes and other delicacies to supplement their incomes, but there were plenty of other dining options. 
From sandwiches and a soda at the Woolworth counter and hot hamburgers sandwiches — hamburgers piled with lettuce, tomato and other fixings, then drowned in hot gravy poured over it all — at the Tuxedo to meals served up at the Cavalier, GSK in the Burton Hotel, Roman’s Restaurant, and the Elks Club’s restaurant, downtown had something for any appetite.
Theaters also proliferated. First-run movies at the Capital, western movie stars on stage at the Virginia (which also operated as the Majestic and the “opera house”), the Dan, the Lea (also known as the Broadway), the Lincoln and the Ritz assured there would be something to do when the shopping and dining was done.
Danville was growing, and in the 1960s and 70s, new housing development sprang up and grocery stores and shopping centers appeared. As the popularity of malls grew, some stores — like Sears — made the transition to the suburbs.
Into the 1980s and 90s, stores began to close or move. Even the national Woolworth chain shut its doors, ending its 117-year reign as a fixture in American life and its 75-year anchor-store position downtown.
Dan River Mills was cutting back and tobacco was no longer the king of Bridge Street commerce. Downtown Danville was changing.
A free event planned for Friday evening, beginning at 6:30 p.m., will celebrate the current effort to revitalize downtown Danville, now dubbed the River District, by unveiling its new branding program that includes new signs directing people to parking and public buildings, a new logo and slogan.
The family-friendly event will feature bounce houses and the Danville Science Center’s Imagination Playground for children and a performance by Dueling Pianos International — which combines music, comedy and audience participation in its show.
The new branding project will be unveiled at about 9 p.m. and will be followed by a fireworks display.

Consultant shares vision for Danville area

Posted by Danville River District News on May 06, 2015
Uncategorized / Comments Off on Consultant shares vision for Danville area

BY VICKY MORRISON 

(434) 791-7981

The Danville Regional Foundation hosted economic consultant and strategist Ted Abernathy on Tuesday to share his vision of what’s waiting around the economic development corner for micropolitans like Danville.

Abernathy has extensive experience in freelance economic development and consulting. He broke down his experience into the scope of national trends, specifically economics of business, workforce, technological and societal trends in a presentation called “Good Enough Is No Longer Good Enough.”

He opened his presentation with the Dan River Region’s high points. These came out of a discussion with Middle Border Forward, the Young Professionals Group and Future of the Piedmont.
“This is mostly about change. Once you figure out that, you can make your choice of where you want to be and how you want to do it,” Abernathy said.
The points of pride included the encouraging growth of the River District and entrepreneurship. The low cost of living, access to nature and broadband system also were deemed positive aspects. Race issues, poor leadership vision and too few middle level jobs were determined to be dimensions in need of work.
Abernathy pointed out that the Dan River Region is an expansive territory. Being so spread out with lots of empty space sprinkled throughout the region make it geographical challenge. It also is best handled with a regional approach instead of municipality-based.
To improve the region, he recommended that Danville and its surrounding areas shed their old manufacturing image. From that clean slate, community leaders must intentionally create a new image. Investment into the workforce and quality of life factors should be sustained while skill attainment levels need improvement.
To make these changes, an infrastructure that excites, informs, engages and diversifies the regional leadership is necessary. The future cannot be a distant idea but something worth meditating on in order to be most informed about the next step.
Repeatedly, the need for young and diverse leadership was emphasized by Abernathy. As much as the younger generations need to be activated by the community, all ages need to be engaged.
There are trends that the Dan River Region can use. The trend to buy local and have a farm-to-table consumer experience benefit an agribusiness-centric area like the Dan River Region. Equally, what Abernathy called “the demise of distance” with handheld and mobile technology, Danville has at its fingertips what every other city may have, from entertainment to resources.
“Locally, homegrown stuff locally sourced is a hot thing right now. That helps communities like this,” he said.
The freelance economy, like the work that Abernathy himself does, is a gold mine of possibility for the region. Retiree entrepreneurship is a trend showing that the aging workforce isn’t interested in stopping work. That’s another area that Danville can support and foster.
“Today the overwhelming trend in business, especially economic development is competition,” he said. “It would be nice to pretend that you don’t have to compete against big cities that you get to compete against cities your size, but that’s the majeure of the world.”
Trends in the workforce mostly revolve around shifts in education. It’s clearer by the year that those without either a high school or college degree earn less than those with degrees. That wage difference is widening, too.
“The bar is rising. To be successful at anything, the bar is rising,” he said. “The bar keeps going up because more and more people have attainment levels. Overall by race, everyone is moving up in terms of degree. The bar will continue to rise”
Despite that raising standard, businesses still care about the soft, interpersonal skills and are ranked higher than the technical requirements. Some of the main traits are fundamental: honesty, integrity and positive attitude.
Abernathy advised the crowd to trendspot itself. DRF President and CEO Karl Stauber concluded the presentation by reminding attendees that this is the start of the conversation.
Morrison reports for the Danville Register & Bee.

River District Association debuts new name, logo

Posted by Danville River District News on May 06, 2015
Uncategorized / Comments Off on River District Association debuts new name, logo
WORK IT, SOVA
On Friday, members of the River District Association, formerly the Downtown Danville Association, joined the City of Danville in celebrating the revitalization of the downtown area.
During the celebration, the city publicly announced that the area will now officially be called the River District, and unveiled its new logo. To show its support and commitment to rebuilding the community, the Downtown Danville Association officially announced that its name is now the River District Association and unveiled a new logo that complements the City’s River District brand. During the celebration, Ernecia Coles was also introduced as its new executive director.
Coles was raised in Chatham where she attended Pittsylvania County public schools and Chatham Hall before receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia. From there, she attended Washington University in St. Louis where she earned a master of social work with a concentration in social and economic development. While in St. Louis, she won a number of awards for her work to revitalize city neighborhoods by building partnerships with both the public and private sectors for housing development, beautification, public safety and youth entrepreneurship programs.
“I am honored to join the River District Association and to work with the city of Danville at this critical time,” said Coles. “RDA has a unique and vital role to play in the development and promotion of business, entertainment, civic life and history here in the River District. I am excited to lead RDA and our membership in engaging residents and critical stakeholders throughout Danville to realize our shared vision of the River District becoming a vibrant place to live, work and visit.”
The Downtown Danville Association was formed in 1999 with a mission to coordinate revitalization efforts in downtown Danville, in partnership with City agencies.
Until 2007, the Association carried out this mission by coordinating the city of Danville’s Virginia Main Street Community program. It coordinated a façade improvement program, organized and hosted the Historic Murals of Danville Committee and implemented a series of networking and social events designed to promote and connect local merchants. Since then, it has maintained an all-volunteer board of committed Danville business owners, residents, civic leaders, nonprofit professionals, and representatives from City agencies. The Association’s members are Danville businesses (downtown and citywide), as well as residents and retired Danville business people who are committed to its mission.
With a grant from the Danville Regional Foundation, the association spent the last three years completing a two-phase assessment and planning process that resulted in a three-year Strategic Plan. The implementation of this plan will position the Association as a value-added partner in the revitalization of the River District and will encourage the development of opportunities and participation in River District business, civic and cultural life. The plan’s first priority is to build a strong sense of community and place in the River District by leveraging and representing a shared vision. Hence, the organization’s name was changed to the River District Association with the commitment to play an active role in shaping and disseminating the City’s River District logo.

Click here for full report.

Opening Day – Danville Farmers’ Market – 2015

Posted by Danville River District News on May 06, 2015
Uncategorized / Comments Off on Opening Day – Danville Farmers’ Market – 2015
http://www.godanriver.com/sova_living/farmers-market-more-than-produce/article_0ae58c3a-f01d-11e4-b166-fb2fc6960bcc.html
BY PATTI OKEEFE

Every Saturday morning from May until October, the Danville Farmers’ Market welcomes up to 50 vendors and hundreds of shoppers. With something for just about everyone, the market has become the place to be each weekend.

According to Kenny Porzio, program coordinator for the Crossing on the Dan, this year will see a return of some favorite events as well as new and different experiences. “Opening day is May 2 and we will provide free tomato plants while they last courtesy of the Danville Girl Scouts.”

“This year we will continue the popular Chef at the Market series,” said Porzio. “Local chefs will use produce and meats from the vendors inside the market to make their recipes. Sometimes it is unusual foods that you may not see every day. Then they give out samples to the customers. It is great for the vendors because people can taste and smell the foods made with fresh products that they can get inside the market.”
The 2015 season will bring many returning vendors and many new vendors selling fruits, vegetables, meat, chicken, baked goods, coffee and crafts. “It varies seasonally,” Porzio said. “Some vendors only have things in the beginning of the year. Others farmers have crops that come in during June and July’s peak season. Other people like the coffee vendor and crafters will be here all year.”
As in the past, Wednesday hours from 3 to 6 p.m. will return during the peak months of July and August.
The Danville Farmers’ Market, however, offers much more than local produce to those attending. “The Danville Regional Foundation comes in and they do a wellness checkup table every week where you can have your blood pressure and other vitals checked,” explained Porzio. “We also have a master gardener table which provides literature and information on gardening.”
And for your fur babies, every month the Danville Area Humane Society provides dog washes at the market with all proceeds going toward the humane society.
“We are also going to try some live music and seating this year,” Porzio said. “So you can buy something to eat and sit down and enjoy it while you listen to music. People sell ham biscuits and baked goods that you could eat here while you take a break from shopping.”
Porzio said that there also will be a suggestion box, made by some of the vendors, so shoppers can leave ideas for future additions to the market.
To accommodate everyone, Ponzi said the Danville Farmers’ Market accepts SNAP/EBT as well as senior vouchers and WIC wouchers for fresh fruit, meat and vegetables. They cannot, however, accept WIC cards at this time.
For recipes and information on upcoming events, the Farmers’ Market has a monthly newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter outside of the market’s office or call (434) 797-8961. You can also request the publica-tion by emailing porziks@danvilleva.gov.
“We are really excited about this year at the Farmers’ Market,” said Porzio. “With the seating and music, vendors and demonstrations, it should be better than ever!”

River District attracting new developers!

Posted by Danville River District News on April 30, 2015
Uncategorized / Comments Off on River District attracting new developers!
BY DENICE THIBODEAU 
dthibodeau@registerbee.com 
(434) 791-7985

Danville’s renovation of its River District has seen a lot of successes — new apartments are attracting new residents, new businesses are building clientele and restaurants seem to be staying busy.

A true measure of just how successful efforts have been is reflected by the sale early this month of the former Belk-Leggett property: an out-of-town developer purchased the building and adjoining properties for $900,000.

Corrie Teague, assistant director of the city’s economic development department, said she has met the developer but is unable as yet to discuss the project except to note that first they will assess and stabilize the building.
“There’s nothing to announce as yet,” Teague said. “But they’ve seen the successes of previous projects and the growth over the last few years; they want to be part of it.”
When the city began the River District redevelopment project in 2010, there were about 200 residents in the district. Now there are about 2,000 living in several newly-redeveloped historic buildings.
Private developers and business owners have been fixing up buildings ranging from former tobacco warehouses to former offices, many of which have been turned into mixed-use building that include residential units on upper floors and commercial space at street level.
In recent months, some of the completed projects included Supply Resources moving into 554 Craghead St.; Urban Fitness moving into bigger quarters at 525 Loyal St.’ and River District Artisans opened at 411 Main St.
The Meredith Gravely School of Dance purchased and moved into 415 Main St. — the building abandoned by Web Parts.
The school opened at 411 Main St. but had to find a new space when the ARC of Southside purchased the building so it could relocate the Hatcher Center Outlet Store from Blairs to the River District and renamed it River District Artisans.
Anne Gravely-Moore said the move has been a good one for the school, giving it more studio space on the upper floors with commercial space she has listed for rent on the first floor.
“We’re booming down there and we love it,” Gravely-Moore said.
There are a number of new projects underway, and more that are expected to make announcements in the coming months, Teague said.
Renovations have begun on the former Pace Building — also know as the Wise Hundley building — at 322-328 Main St., which will be converted into 14 one- and two-bedroom apartments on the upper floors with commercial spaces on the street level.
The former jewelry shop at 442 Main St. — which most recently housed Love Wig; that store moved a few doors down the block — has been purchased by SLW & Associates LLC.
Stephen Staats — chief operating officer of SLW, which has also renovated the former Smith Seeds building on Lynn Street — said in October he was working on financing for the project. Teague said Wednesday the project would soon be under construction to convert the building into six residential units and one commercial space.
There is also work underway at 610 Craghead St., where 42 two-bedrooms apartments are being created over a street-level commercial space.
Soon, the former Woolworth building will be available for rent again. Union Church rented the building for about two years, but has outgrown it.
“We really need more space,” the church’s pastor, Adam Cook, said last month.
The church is moving into the former YMCA building on Main Street.
The Woolworth building is privately owned, but Teague said the city is very interested in helping find “the right tenant” for the space.
“Retail would be a very appropriate use of that space,” Teague said.
At a recent River District Design Commission meeting, economic development consultant Linwood Wright said work is expected to begin shortly on the former Dan River Research Building, which will be converted to medical offices.
Teague said she could not confirm when the construction would begin, but “it looks like they’re very close to finalizing their project.”
Financing for large project such as this often take time to finalize, Teague said.
“We’re thankful to be seeing progress now,” Teague said.
Thibodeau reports for the Danville Register & Bee.
« Previous Page Next Page »