Across the Dan River from Danville’s River District, a largely revitalized part of the city, is North Danville, a business district with a rich history that lost investments and attention after the tobacco and textile industries left town.
This part of Danville is the city’s next target for revitalization. But an unorthodox approach is needed to make sure this work is done correctly, said Lashawn Farmer, director of design and expansion for the River District Association.
The crux of this approach is community engagement and input, said Farmer. The RDA plans to kickstart this effort and providing guidance, but it will be strongly led by the community.
“The way that RDA wants to do this work is going to look foreign to a lot of people,” Farmer said.
Asking residents and property owners what they’d like to see in their district may seem like common sense during a revitalization process, but localities often opt to hire a consultant for this work.
Instead of searching for the right consultant or waiting on a consultant’s feedback, the River District Association is turning to community members.
“There are enough people in this community that I feel can do this work,” Farmer said. “They just need to be identified, brought to the table, and given the resources.”
This will make the entire process slower and more challenging, she said, but it’s the right approach, given the history of the district.
“It’s harder doing it this way,” she said. “It’d be easier for us to come in and say, OK, this is a gateway to downtown, so let’s put lots of retail and restaurants here. But that’s not the right way, and RDA stands firm in doing what the community wants and needs.”
North Danville is a predominantly Black community and is home to some of the city’s historic African American neighborhoods, like Camp Grove.
Building trust is one of the necessary first steps for involving the community this heavily in the revitalization process, Farmer said. In the past, parts of North Danville have felt sidelined in citywide conversations.
“[The community] has been hurt so many times,” Farmer said.
This effort hopes to remedy that, bringing together community members and stakeholders to listen to their vision for the North Main District.
So far, things are off to a good start, Farmer said, but there’s a long way to go.
History of North Danville
North Danville was established in 1877 as a separate town across the river from Danville, according to a historic marker on North Main Street.
Between 1894 and 1896, North Danville was called Neapolis and functioned as a self-sustaining locality. After 1896, it was annexed by Danville.
When the tobacco, textile and railroad industries left Danville, the city experienced economic distress, and North Danville was no exception.
Much of the district’s grand architecture was demolished over the years, though some buildings still stand, according to the Danville Historical Society.
In 2004, the North Danville Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. According to the register, the district includes more than 400 historic buildings that were built from 1880 to around 1955.
Many of these buildings, which include a wide variety of architectural styles, were built by Dan River Cotton Mills founder T.B. Fitzgerald.
Today, the area is largely residential, but there are several commercial blocks on North Main Street, immediately across the bridge from the River District.
Businesses like the Historic North Theater, which opened in 1947; a Thai restaurant; and the Wrenn-Yeatts funeral home operate in the area, as do several churches.
The revitalization effort is specifically focused on this commercial area, which the RDA calls the North Main Street Business District.
And experts on the district’s history are involved in this process. Travis Hackworth and Karice Luck-Brimmer, two local historians with personal ties to North Danville, have been participating in the community conversations, Farmer said. (Hackworth is no relation to the state senator from Tazewell County by the same name.)
“It’s important to have those experts there firsthand,” Farmer said. “To have them accessible, that’s really helped. And they are part of the community too.”
Building trust and starting conversations
The RDA has been hosting community meetings to initiate conversations about this effort since February at the Salvation Army building in North Danville.
The location was an important piece of the planning, and the Salvation Army has been “a beacon of light” for the North Danville community, Farmer said. It is a place that many residents, both youth and adults, are already familiar with and comfortable in.
It’s a central location for the community, and it’s also “neutral ground” for residents and city officials, Farmer said.
Shawnte Hodges, one of the lead ministers at the Salvation Army, said that the church and community center on Henry Street has been a “staple in the community for years,” so it made sense to be part of the revitalization conversations.
“I felt we needed to be involved somehow because this is our city, this is our community,” Hodges said.
It’s been special to see so many people come together for one goal, Hodges said. Turnout has been good so far, with each of the three meetings drawing more than 15 people.
At the most recent meeting, a group of property owners and residents — both youth and adults — decided on a name for their committee, and on mission and vision statements.
One of the participants, Yolanda Mounkaila, said she’s been impressed with the comeback that Danville has made in recent years.
“I think a lot of people didn’t think Danville would be able to snap back,” she said.
This is especially noticeable in the River District, but it’s time for that to spread over to North Main, said Mounkaila, who lives in Martinsville and works at Danville’s Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. She has been involved in conversations about community development in the Danville-Pittsylvania area over the last 20 years, she said.
“Danville deserves the title of the comeback city,” Mounkaila said. “But now it’s time for North Main to shine, because when you cross the bridge, it feels like you’re in a different city.”
Other attendees agreed, saying that it often feels like people forget about and stigmatize North Main.
Steve DelGiorno, who owns property on North Main Street, said he’s put time and resources into historic renovations, and that he’s excited for nearby properties to get the same attention.
“Anytime a city like Danville goes through this renaissance, it has to start in one area,” DelGiorno said. “The River District downtown made the most sense, but it has to move on and spread out.”
The RDA is putting a lot of effort into advertising the meetings, working to make sure that everyone in the community feels invited and included in these discussions, Farmer said.
“Am I missing someone? Yes, so let me know who that is,” Farmer said. “I’m not perfect and RDA is not perfect and the community is not perfect, so I know somebody right now is being excluded. Tell me who that is, and I’ll make sure they’re included. That’s going to be ongoing.”
This means a lot for the community, because residents and property owners have felt ignored in the past, Hodges said.
“The Salvation Army resonates with that personally,” she said. “This organization does so much for our community, and oftentimes we are overlooked and not invited to the table. Now, to be able to host [the meetings] where everyone is introduced and has a voice, that’s where the trust begins.”
Making people feel like their voices are heard and their opinions matter goes a long way, Hodges said. And this is not exclusive to the adults in the community.
The RDA wants to include the youth that spend time in North Danville as well, Farmer said. There has been one youth community meeting so far, with more planned.
And Farmer emphasized that while the RDA is helping to lead this effort, there is a lot of collaboration going on with other local organizations.
“Another way we’re trying to build trust is by not putting this in the hands of just one group,” she said. “We’re working with property owners, with the business owners, neighbors and nonprofits and churches in the area.”
Community members often share memories about what the district used to look like, which buildings have moved or been torn down, and what businesses have come and gone, Farmer said.
At the beginning of each meeting, attendees introduce themselves with only their name and how long they’ve been in the city. While many have lived in Danville their whole lives, others are newer to town, with one attendee having only lived in the city for two weeks.
There is no mention of titles, with the goal to make everyone comfortable enough to participate, Farmer said.
“This gives the city employees the opportunity to sit in the space and be part of the community, and it gives the community the opportunity to sit in this space and be comfortable and not feel judged or excluded,” Farmer said. “It evens the playing field.”
Susan McCulloch, the city’s housing development division director, has been involved in the meetings since they began, Farmer said.
“Think about how much knowledge she’s bringing to the table, and she gets to sit in the space as a community person and not as someone who works for the city,” Farmer said. “That’s not her only purpose there, and it humanizes her to the residents.”
The RDA also worked with the Urban Land Institute, an organization of real estate and urban development professionals, to get recommendations about overcoming barriers and encouraging partnerships during this process.
Possibilities for North Danville, and getting the work done
ULI identified opportunities and challenges in North Danville as part of a report in the fall of 2023.
Among the opportunities: the chance to create a key neighborhood gateway into the city and to attract investment for more affordable housing, as well as developing more sustainable commercial land uses, a vibrant arts and cultural hub, and a more connected community.
There is also an opportunity to improve transportation, both to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment and to better connect North Danville to the River District.
Challenges include an aging building inventory and blighted properties, a lack of functional green space, high traffic volume, absentee property owners and a lack of a common community vision for the district. This last challenge is being directly addressed by the community meetings.
Farmer said that work will focus on rehabilitating, repurposing and preserving historic buildings in North Danville rather than demolishing them.
“There hasn’t been any talk about tearing any buildings down,” Farmer said. “Everyone that I’ve talked to has been talking about restoring and revitalizing. … How can we use the history of these buildings to catapult into the future? That has always been the talk.”
However, physical safety is a priority, so any safety risks posed by old buildings will be addressed, she added.
Hodges said that many community members want improved family activities in the North Main Street Business District.
“They want to see places they can hang out,” she said. “The youth is something I really care about, and our kids don’t have enough positive things to do. So I’m looking forward to it becoming more family-friendly around here.”
A splash pad at Third Avenue off North Main Street was completed in March, and Hodges said she hopes to see more similar amenities in the future.
People also want to see building facades and storefronts spruced up. With so much car traffic through the district, it would be great to have the buildings looking nice, Hodges said.
Wayne Alan, a professional magician and owner of the Historic North Theater, said he’d love to see more arts and culture attractions in North Danville. He has ideas for features such as murals and sculptures to attract visitors.
Because it’s so early in this long process, possibilities for North Danville’s revitalization are still being fleshed out, Farmer said. Involving the community so intimately makes the work take longer, but it’s worth it, she said.
She called the redevelopment of North Main “one of the hardest tasks in this community.”
“People always say it’s good to find some quick wins,” Farmer said. “But with North Main, there’s never going to be any low-hanging fruit….We knew it was going to be hard finding the resources and the time and the capacity.”
The RDA is applying for grants, Farmer said, and historic tax credits may be an option for funding some of the work. But many of the details surrounding funding and project timelines are not concrete yet because the community conversations are just getting underway.
Involving the community can also help ensure that the work will last and be sustainable, because community members who participate are becoming informed about how these processes work.
“We’re redeveloping North Main, but we can also take this information and replicate it when we start work in other parts of the city,” she said.
Farmer likened the situation to the saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
“Being intentional about teaching communities to fish is essential because if not, we’re going to see ourselves back in this same place 25 years from now,” she said.