NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — When you think of Downtown Newport News, what comes to mind?
The city's assistant city manager Bo Clayton acknowledges some might immediately think of the coal terminal, the shipyard, or the bridge-tunnel traffic.
“I would think the perception is there’s a lot of industrial, downtown," Clayton said. “We’re known for the shipyard and the ‘sports event’ that happens every day when 25,000 people come into Newport News and leave every day as part of our workforce.”
But the city has a lot more to offer.
Once a street of warehouses, the Newport News Yard District is now home to restaurants, shops, and Coastal Fermentory. Co-owner Seth Caddell said he and his friends opened the brewery at the end of 2020, inspired by the churning shift in the city.
“We’ve been downtown for three years now," Caddell said. “We were really excited about the idea of the revitalization efforts that were happening down here… to create a true downtown experience in Newport News.”
And there are more revitalization efforts in the works.
New renderings show further proposed changes coming to the city: the old Greek Orthodox Church on 26th Street could become a new restaurant and entertainment venue with waterfront views.
The abandoned church is in a prime location: right next to the Victory Arch and steps from downtown. The plan is to breathe new life into the building.
City leaders say this is the just latest step in a string of improvements to the city. The Yard District is one of the city's major redevelopments.
“We want to increase the level of activity down here," Clayton said. "We want it to be where people have a place to come, enjoy those areas, eat, have a drink, have a place to relax. Enjoy the gorgeous sunset that we have here.”
The church is next to the ongoing James River Strand project. The plan is to build a multi-use walkway from that park to the adjacent Victory Landing Park. It also includes the construction of a new amphitheater with terraced seating, lighting and electricity, for special events.
This year, Newport News city leaders announced “an important step forward” in downtown’s revitalization. The city is one of ten taking part in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative.
Clayton said it’s a major, in-depth program focused on better equipping city leaders to tackle problems and take steps that improve residents' quality of life.
“This particular program is about six months," he said. "We’re going to be involved in that and we see this as the catalyst to really build that momentum downtown.”
Clayton said a team of stakeholders is already working on a strategy for downtown. He said city staff members are working with community partners and faith-based leaders to better position the city for redevelopment.
The city's Director of Development Florence Kingston said the plan is to bring in more housing, restaurants, shops, and amenities.
Kingston said her team wants to increase walkability and public access to the waterfront, downtown.
“We’re kind of rebuilding the fabric of downtown," Kingston said. “Newport News has a lot of waterfront but there’s very few places that the public and the citizens have access to. Our plans have been for our citizens as well as for other people to come and discover our new downtown.”
Kingston said it's a process years in the making: to revitalize downtown Newport News.
“I think there’s a ton of forward progress happening downtown," Caddell said. "Yes, this is a place where people come to work at the shipyard. This is a place where people come to, unfortunately, pay parking tickets, but over the last few years – we’ve seen as more and more restaurants and more and more venues have opened up on 23rd Street specifically, we’ve seen more and more of a late-night crowd, more and more of a weekend crowd that we weren’t seeing when the shipyard and city hall are closed.”
Also this month: Newport News city leaders discussed a multi-million dollar project to build more housing downtown.
Officials are considering a $30 million proposal for a pair of rental housing communities in the area. The two properties are located at 100 29th Street and 311 33rd Street.