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Navy Hill: From Thriving Black Community to Debated Redevelopment

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Richmond’s Navy Hill neighborhood was demolished to make way for interstates. Can a hotly debated city redevelopment plan make it a community once again?

Before it was the name of a downtown development plan, Navy Hill was the neighborhood Faithe Norrell called home. 

“I just remember it as a really warm community, where everyone wanted to know your accomplishments,” said Norrell, a retired educator who worked with Richmond Public Schools for 28 years. “A very nurturing community.”

Situated north of Broad Street between Third and 13th streets, Navy Hill got its name after plans were made to erect a memorial in the area for those who fought in the War of 1812, which was primarily a naval war. At first, Navy Hill was largely populated by German immigrants, but by the turn of the 20th century, it was one of Richmond’s most prominent black neighborhoods, along with nearby Jackson Ward and Carver. 

Norrell remembers Navy Hill as a neighborhood with a strong sense of community and equality. She recalls going for walks every morning with her “auntie” and stopping by to see friends. 

“There were professional people living there and people that were housekeepers, like my sisters… it was a financially diverse group of people, but everybody was treated equally,” Norrell continued. “You were as respectful to a custodian as you were to the doctor. You were raised to do that.” 

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, an actor and tap dancer famous for dancing alongside Shirley Temple in the 1930s, called Navy Hill home. Navy Hill was also home to other notable residents, including Maggie Lena Walker, the first black woman to charter a bank and serve as bank president in the United States. Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe, Capital News Service.

An interstate runs through it

Many of those who owned businesses in Jackson Ward would return home to Navy Hill at night. In fact, Navy Hill was significant in that many leaders of Richmond’s black community made their homes in the neighborhood. Maggie Walker, the first black woman to charter a bank in the U.S., lived in Navy Hill before she relocated to Jackson Ward. In the era of Jim Crow, Walker helped to foster entrepreneurship in Richmond’s black community. Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, famous for tap dancing alongside Shirley Temple in four 1930s films, had a home in Navy Hill. A Bojangles statue perches at a busy intersection in nearby Jackson Ward, where he is credited with putting up the funds to install a stoplight.

Norrell’s grandfather, Albert V. Norrell, was a longtime resident of Navy Hill. His Navy Hill home was located at 1015 N. Seventh St., where her aunts also lived. 

Originally born enslaved, Albert V. Norrell taught in Richmond for 66 years, including at Navy Hill School, which for many years was the only school in Richmond with black faculty. A school in Richmond’s Northside was renamed Albert V. Norrell School. 

“One of his direct descendants taught in Richmond Public Schools until I retired in 2017,” Faithe Norrell said. “For 133 years, he had a direct descendant teaching or administrating in Richmond … we say it was our family business.” 

Though Faithe Norrell left Navy Hill in 1951, her connections to the neighborhood were strong throughout the 1950s and 1960s. She would visit with her aunts, who babysat her. 

“I just remembered the joy of being there,” Faithe Norrell said. “My family actually owned about four houses on that street, so we would just go from house to house.” 

A walk through Navy Hill today reveals a different neighborhood than the one Norrell remembers. In the remaining part of Navy Hill where homes, churches, and an elementary school once stood, Reynolds Community College and Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical Center campuses now dominate the landscape. The Richmond Coliseum — which was closed in 2018 — and the historic Blues Armory stand unused. 1015 N. Seventh St. has been replaced with a small parking lot. 

“Individual citizens must be inconvenienced for the good of the community.” 

Construction of Interstates 64 and 95 destroyed Navy Hill in the 1950s and 1960s. An article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch from Aug. 2, 1955, details how the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike — now a portion of I-95 — would help people outside of Richmond make it into the city faster, and those living in the city would benefit from reduced traffic. But the story also noted that those living in the path of the road would be displaced.

“Unfortunately, the demolition of scores of dwellings and business places will create difficult problems for some of the persons involved,” the article read. “This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, when individual citizens must be inconvenienced for the good of the community.” 

Another RT-D article later that month reported that 726 buildings, 526 of which were homes, were to be torn down to make way for the interstate. 

Then on Oct. 29 of the same year, a RT-D report noted that about 1,000 families in the Navy Hill area would be displaced by the construction of the interstate. 

Navy Hill School was demolished in the 1960s. 

“Because of gradual disappearance of residences in the section, what with the highway construction, there appears to be no other reason for the erection of another school,” an article appearing in the Sept. 14, 1965, edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. The next week, another story in the RT-D noted that Navy Hill School would be demolished “to make way for an interchange of Interstate Rt. 64.” 

In 1966, Norrell’s family was displaced from Navy Hill. She said her family was so rooted in the community that many of them died within a year or two after being forced to move to another part of the city.

“You can’t kill a whole segment of people’s culture,” she said. “I’m sure when you’re planning things you can find a different route or a different way to build without having to destroy a neighborhood.” 

The Richmond Coliseum opened in 1971 and is capable of holding 13,500 people. It has been defunct since the end of 2018. With the Navy Hill Redevelopment Plan, the Coliseum would be replaced by a new arena. Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe, Capital News Service.

Development on the horizon

In November 2018, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney proposed a $1.5 billion project to redevelop the Navy Hill neighborhood. A new hotel, a GRTC transit center, and a $325 million, 17,500-seat arena to replace the Coliseum are all part of the Navy Hill Development Project. According to the Navy Hill website, no taxes will be raised to fund the project. Private investors will pay for the development.

The city will borrow money to pay for an arena to replace the Coliseum, and tax increment financing, called a TIF, will be used to pay back the loans. The city has created an 80-block TIF district where incoming tax revenue would be frozen at current levels and any additional tax revenue go toward paying back the arena loan. 

Jim Nolan, press secretary to Stoney, said in a statement to Capital News Service that the Navy Hill Development Project will “rejuvenate” the downtown neighborhood while also bringing in a projected $1 billion in surplus revenue that will go toward funding schools, housing, and infrastructure.

“We believe the project will greatly benefit the city because it will create thousands of jobs, build hundreds of units of affordable housing and a new transit center, include a goal of $300 million in minority business participation, and produce a new publicly-owned arena to replace the 1970s era Richmond Coliseum, once a public asset, now a public liability,” Nolan stated. 

Plans to redevelop Navy Hill have been controversial. Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder wrote on Facebook last month: “when I now read of the ‘rehabilitation of Navy Hill,’ I ask how can you rehabilitate that which has been destroyed?” 

Justin Griffin, an attorney in Richmond with a background in accounting and economics, said he started the website called NoColiseum.com to bring attention to problems he sees with the proposed development.

“It’s pretty obvious from reading these financial projections — they’re just absurd and overstated,” Griffin said. 

“If we were having an honest conversation … I think we would have a vast majority say, ‘No, you can’t afford that right now, we should put our focus and our money into schools and roads and the other city services that need to be caught up on here in Richmond.’”

Now defunct, the Blues Armory once housed the Richmond Light Infantry Blues. With the Navy Hill Development Project, the Blues Armory will house a market and a live music venue. Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe, Capital News Service.

At least two members of the Richmond City Council — Kim Gray, 2nd District, and Reva Trammell, 8th District — have voiced clear opposition to the project. Councilmember Stephanie Lynch, who won a special election in November to replace Parker Agelasto in the 5th District, said previously that she doesn’t support the project in its current form.

Griffin said the new arena and the Navy Hill Development Project are technically two separate projects, but are inextricably linked. 

“They will not consider anything without an arena … it’s the arena which taxpayers are going to pay for, that is going to drive people and dollars into the private developments,” Griffin said. “The people are going to own the thing that is most likely a liability.”

Griffin said that projects like this do not typically work, citing the Kansas City Power and Light District in Kansas City, Missouri. 

“If you actually look into the Power and Light District, it might appear successful,” Griffin said, noting that people do visit the district. “But from a standpoint that it actually makes a profit for the city and has benefited the people of Kansas City, it has not.”

City financial advisors Davenport and Company state that TIFs have been used across Virginia, including for development of Short Pump Town Center in Henrico County and Stone Bridge in Chesterfield County, a new development in the former Cloverleaf Mall. They say the funding approach has been used several thousand times, which “underscores the relative success of this structure.”

As part of the arrangement with the city, NH District Corp. developers said the project will include 480 affordable housing units, with projected rents ranging from $1,001 for a studio apartment to $1,717 for a two-bedroom apartment in 2023. 

Stoney has called the project “the largest economic empowerment project in our history.” 

Albert V. Norrell lived at 1015 N 7th St. His granddaughter, Faithe Norrell, spent time at the house when she was being babysat by her aunts. Today, a parking lot exists where the house once was. Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe, Capital News Service.

Meanwhile, Norrell said she would like to see Navy Hill become a neighborhood again. She also said she’d like to see any revenue that comes from a redeveloped Navy Hill be earmarked to improve public schools.

“So many people are being displaced in Jackson Ward because of gentrification … it’d be very rewarding for me to be able to see people move back into Navy Hill and make it a community again, because that’s what it was — a community of friends and neighbors.”

Written by Jimmy O’Keefe, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Interstate 95 runs through what was once Navy Hill. Construction of I-95 displaced many families living in Navy Hill. The destruction of Navy Hill is generally attributed to the construction of I-95. Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe, Capital News Service.

Six Candidates For City Council Duke It Out In 5th District Community Forum

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Richmond Mayorathon’s Focus On The 5th forum was a game-show style event featuring half a dozen candidates competing for the 5th District’s seat on Richmond’s City Council.

Six candidates running to replace 5th District Councilman Parker Agelasto attended a special forum at the Randolph Community Center on Grayland Ave. this past Thursday. Each Candidate got a chance to voice their platform directly to 5th District residents. 

The event, called “A Focus on the 5th,” was put together by Richmond Mayorathon, an organization made up of over 17 smaller community organizations. They planned the event to work like a game show — each candidate had only 90 seconds to answer a question, and they all had a handful of “challenge flags” which they could spend to answer questions not directed towards them. 

Topics for the questions included Transportation, Public Safety, the Environment, and the notorious Coliseum Redevelopment Plan. Attendees of the forum were also encouraged to write their own questions on a notecard for candidates to answer. 

“I think we need to give every opportunity for people to hear what we’re talking about…” said Candidate Nicholas Da Silva. “They put on a very community-centered forum here tonight, so I thought it was valuable to come.” 

Of the eight candidates running to replace Agelasto this November, only six attended the event. They were Nicholas Da Silva, Stephanie Lynch, Jer’Mykeal McCoy, Robin Mines, Chuck Richardson and Thad Williamson. Absent were Mamie Taylor and Graham Sturm, the latter of whom announced his withdrawal from the race shortly after this event.

One of the most heated topics of the forum included the North of Broad Development Proposal, also called the Coliseum Plan. The proposal plans to rebuild the Richmond Coliseum, along with a redevelopment of a large portion of downtown. The plan is set to cost $1.5 billion, and was the only topic which had a question directed to every candidate in the room. Only Thad Williams supported the proposal. 

“We have 30 thousand adults of working age living in poverty,” said Williams. “”To have several thousand new jobs downtown… would be potentially life-changing.”

However, most of the other candidates strongly opposed the proposal, and criticized its lack of community involvement.

“From the beginning it has been pushed through every level of input or government design,” said Da Silva.

The forum ended after nine rounds of questions. In addition to publicly voicing their views at the forum, each of the candidates also answered many of the questions on the Richmond Mayorathon website. 

The special election to decide the next 5th District Councilmember is being held on November 5, after current Councilman Parker Agelasto was forced to resign after moving out of the 5th District.

Photos: Richmond Mayorathon, via Flickr

Manchester Community Divided on Proposed Homeless Shelter

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At a town hall meeting Wednesday night, over 200 people crammed into the former Community Bainbridge Street Baptist Church to voice their concerns and discuss the opening a new homeless shelter in the heart of a Manchester residential district. Residents and business owners clashed across the aisles of the former church, staking positions on a development that reveals deep divisions in the city of Richmond.

The proposed new shelter, which would be operated by CCC, or Commonwealth Catholic Charities, would replace the current cold weather shelter, located in the basement of the downtown Public Safety Building. It would house around 200 people and provide a centralized base of operations for food, medical, and outreach services, to provide a transition stage for people without housing.

In an earlier decade, this plan might not have been controversial, but with development in Manchester surging, the meeting revealed the cracks between residents, business owners, and government services. CCC began the meeting by presenting the plan for the shelter, leading into Q&A with residents. Jay Brown, director of CCC housing services, led the discussion for the meeting.

According to Brown, this building would relocate CCC’s resources out of necessity. “The conditions at the current site are such that we don’t believe we can provide that service in a way that we can afford people the dignity that they are due,” Brown said. With the new building, Brown said the size and location was perfect for effective services, noting that the plan was in development for three years. While the previous location was only open from 7 p.m. to 10 a.m., Brown hopes to keep the new one open 24/7.

Despite Brown’s confidence, many attendees expressed fears and concerns surrounding the new location. Some thought the area lacked appropriate infrastructure for a facility of this size. Speakers described the plan as well intended, but feared it would fail in a district with poor access to food and public transportation. There are other programs that provide similar services in the area; less than a mile away, Caritas operates a 5-acre center, and Liberation Family Services runs a roughly 17,000 square-foot building serving homeless veterans at 1201 Hull St., just two blocks from the proposed location.

Others argued it would be disruptive and hurt perception of the neighborhood, resulting in lower property values. This argument was summed up in a recent article by developer and blogger Michael Hild on his site Dogtown Dish, where he wrote, “The City needs to calm down, think this through, and come up with well thought out plans rather than this coliseum induced rush-job.” Although Hild and others have tried to tie the shelter to the leaked Coliseum redevelopment plan, there is no evidence for this; the shelter move was planned several years ago under a previous administration, and the Coliseum redevelopment proposal is new.

Others at the meeting questioned CCC’s past success at ameliorating homelessness. The organization was founded in 1923, and attendees requested data from previous programs and developments. Brown said they would gather such data and make it accessible at a later time.

Several attendees came with their own assumptions about the impact of the shelter. Some said it would bring an influx of drug dealers, while another speaker said it would deteriorate the past decade of neighborhood improvements. One speaker, Manchester developer Bryan Drake, raised concern for his own safety. “I, for one, don’t want to go back to that place where I have to wonder if should I be putting barbed wire around my yard,” he said.

Residents in support, like Linda Brown, called for compassion and reason. “Everyone needs a place to stay, whether it’s temporary or permanent,” she said. She described the outrage from investors and developers as “convenient” and opportunistic. “When you feel your security is at risk, then you come in droves,” she said. “That’s not how you do it. You have to work together for the common good.”

One resident, Sheri Shannon, spoke about her hopes for the neighborhood, contrasting community development with gentrification. She said, “For community development, the focus is to improve the neighborhood for existing residents. Gentrification is improving the neighborhood by replacing many of the residents. I believe this an opportunity to re-envision and revitalize what we see for Manchester and what [we] dream of for the community.”

Another local, Theodore Woodson, spoke in support of the shelter from personal experience, having spent seven years surviving on the street. “Not all drug addicts are bad, just as not all homeless people are bad,” Woodson said. “It takes a community to have a success story. I understand your concerns, but you shouldn’t put value in property over human beings, because we don’t know who in this room will need these services tomorrow.”

While the shelter was originally meant for use from October through April, many attendees thought they should consider year-round services. Others offered community help to develop the facility. Preston Page, an advocate for the Blackwell community, offered condolences and aid to CCC. He said, “Your mission is charged with a very broad portfolio of services, is there any way we can help you all, can the community help with what you’re trying to execute and how?”

Montigue Magruder, who has run for office with the Green Party, emphasized a need for community members, himself included, to attend city council meetings more often and to focus on voting in representatives who share community priorities into office. “If the city truly cared about its people, we would not be having this discussion,” he said. “If we have the guts to stand up to our city leaders, stand up to the mayor, to see that our resources go towards helping our fellow human beings, we would probably have no homelessness here because more than likely, there are more empty houses in this city than there are homeless people.”

Sixth District Councilwoman Ellen Robertson made closing remarks, sharing sympathies for those afflicted by poverty stuck in the middle of this issue. “At first, discussion was only to provide a new overflow shelter,” she said. “Little discussion was offered about other outreach services. I’m telling you because I want you to appreciate the progression to where we are today.” Councilwoman Robertson also called for appreciation for the developers and real estate investors in Manchester. “You are the community that have opened the door, that have invested the money from what it was into what it is today. They spent their money, their investments, to provide roofs over our heads,” she said.

Brown was open to more community involvement but stressed the tight time frame. “From what we have looked at, this site, from what we have seen, allows us with the best potential to do so successfully, to do it right, and to provide the service with dignity, but we have to move quickly if we want this to happen,” he said.

Nearly 100 people had relied on the downtown shelter nightly from October 1 to April 15, as demand for spots in privately-run shelters routinely exceeded the number of beds available to people in need. Foil blankets and mattress pads are only allocated to women and children, while men are required to sit up in chairs. Through a slideshow of pictures and previous reports done on the shelter, CCC demonstrated the inadequacy of their current facilities. “We think this location is perfect because it has the space to relocate all of our services- we have the room to accommodate all the people we need to,” Brown said.

To accomplish all this, CCC needs to secure a special-use permit from the city. Mayor Stoney’s administration is working with the non-profit to draft a Special Use Permit to clear the city’s zoning restrictions. Approval may be expedited at a proposed August meeting; Brown said they will let the community know when they schedule the meeting.

“This is the first large-scale conversation of what will determine how to go forward,” Brown said. “The feedback I have gotten from [our organization] is that the success and failure is determined on how well we connected with the community – how well you have conversations with people, how you invite the community in to keep them informed throughout the process,” Brown said. Representatives from CCC estimated a 150-180 day process to receive approval; even without community concerns or involvement, construction can’t start soon.

Brown acknowledged that it was a difficult proposition for some in the audience. With the need being so great, and resources being so few, there will always be someone inconvenienced or put out by any change. The meeting, which drifted between logistics and engagement, often came back to matters of perception. Who needs help, how, and where and when? Ultimately, that’s a question for the entire city of Richmond.

Photos By: Branden Wilson 

PHOTOS: Foo Fighters take the Richmond Coliseum

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This weekend, Richmond was rocked once again by one of music’s biggest acts, Foo Fighters. The 11-time Grammy winners performed at the Richmond Coliseum over the weekend in support of their latest album, Concrete & Gold. The show was opened with the Fighters new single “Run” from the new album. Richmond was treated to 10 songs back-to-back before the band officially greeted concertgoers.  And much to the adoration of the crowd, the band played for two and a half hours, rocking out several fan favorites like My Hero, The Pretender, and Virginia Moon. Band frontman and former Nirvana drummer David Grohl made sure to let Richmonders know how excited he was to be kicking off the first night of their world tour in his home state of Virginia.


I’ve wanted to see Foo Fighters since they won the Grammy for best rock album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace back in 2008. And as a frequent concertgoer, I must say that this was one of the most energetic live shows that I have ever attended. The Fighters’ show was jam-packed with non-stop action, iconic tunes, great production, and intense rock and roll pandemonium. There was never a dull moment, from the moment that the show started right up until its finish. My favorite moment of the night was the band’s entrance where the performed their new single, “Run.”

Here are some of RVA Mag’s most iconic shots of the night, up close and very personal:

Good Night, Richmond!

 

*Follow Jonathan Brooks on Instagram @iamjohnnybrooks 

 

Foo Fighters come to Richmond Coliseum this Fall, tickets on sale 6/29

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The legendary Foo Fighters are returning to RVA this fall, and they’ll surely sell out the nearly 12,000 seat Richmond Coliseum when tickets go on sale later this month.

The fall tour is part of a build up for the release of their new record, Concrete and Gold, due out September 15 worldwide on Roswell/RCA Records and available for preorder now here. It’s been three years since the release of Sonic Highways, and just about as long since the band came to RVA thanks to a crowd funding campaign.

Check out a live clip of a new song, “Lad Di Da,” from a recent over seas show below:

They dropped a more formal new track, “Run,” a few weeks back, and its already topped 7 million views on youtube:

The big show happens Saturday, Oct. 14th, at 730 PM. Tickets for the show go on sale next Friday, 6/29 at the Richmond Coliseum box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, charge by phone 800-745-3000 or buy at livenation.com.