In 2019, HDP received a $25,000 Virginia Main Street Downtown Investment Grant (DIG) from the Department of Housing and Community Development to fund several large-scale mural project in Downtown Hopewell. DIGs allow Main Street organizations to take on unique, onetime projects that measurably, creatively, and sustainably advance the organization’s goals and strategies while supporting the community’s vision for encouraging the private investment necessary for the economic revitalization of the Main Street district.

A NEW DAWN by Nico Cathcart is located at 245 E Broadway on the exterior wall of the Butterworth Lofts Building. Read the artist statement below. This piece was commissioned by the Hopewell Downtown Partnership with funding from the Hopewell Downtown Partnership and Virginia Main Street.

Hopewell is situated in a unique place where the James River and Appomattox river merge. It was an advantageous spot for early industry, which used the rivers for easy transportation. In this design, two local women from different backgrounds (Ariana Calos on the left, and Nherie Tellado on the right) , both daughters of immigrants, dressed in glittering blue are metaphors for the river. Ari wears a greek evil-eye necklace, and gold greek earrings as a nod to her heritage. The merging of two different people echoes the river connection, but also operates as a metaphor for community. Both women have a silk shawl, also a lighter blue, that mirrors the movement of water and serves as a nod to the artificial Silk Factory that used to operate in Hopewell. Behind the women is a scene from the river, showing the industrial buildings of Dupont. The positioning of the factories, being behind the figures, is meant to note that the industry is part of the history of the town, in the past. The figures themselves look up and forward towards a newer Hopewell, which is a diverse creative community striving to work together. Their hair has a crown made up of wildflowers that are native to the area. In Nherie’s hair, plumeria are included as a reference to Hopewell’s famous Hawaiian band. There is a swish of water towards the bottom, which solidifies the river connection at city point, and the tidal river, under the water there is a sturgeon and catfish, which are commonly found on the lines of fisherfolk in the area. A manatee swims in the bottom right, as a nod to the famous few that have braved the river. On the bottom are Virginia tidal botanicals that are local to the Hopewell area, Blue Flag Iris, Mayapple, Magnolia, and a Jack-in-the Pulpit. To round out the botanicals on the top is American Wisteria. To future celebrate the biodiversity of the piece, I have included two songbirds native to the river in the Hopewell Area, The Yellow-Throated Warbler (yellow throat, black and white bird), and Summer tanager (red bird). They are flying upwards to assist in the feeling of hope.

HOPEWELL PROUD by Austin Miles is located at 224 N Main St. This piece was commissioned by the Lamb Center for Arts and Healing with funding from the Hopewell Downtown Partnership and Virginia Main Street.

Hopewell Proud is a piece that embraces the natural beauties and people of Hopewell. Using vibrant colors and energetic movement, this piece showcases the Appomattox River, an eagle, and hands that work together to build the city of Hopewell. All of these elements along with Hopewell’s rich history are what makes this city a special and unique place in Virginia. This piece is a celebration of pride for Hopewell’s past and future. Artist, Austin Miles, invited the community to participate in the mural creation at Lamb Arts’ first Hopewell Arts Fest in October 2019.

In partnership with Hopewell Recreation and Parks, we received a $10,000 grant to build a playground at City Park. With the help from soldiers from Fort Lee, we built a wooden ship to encourage recreation at City Park. Since this grant was received, Recreation and Parks has received additional funding and has expanded the play area at the park.

The HDP, in partnership with local non-profit, Capital Area Partnership Uplifting People (CAPUP) was awarded a $387,900 Industrial Revitalization Fund (IRF) grant to redevelop the historic storefront located at 238 East Broadway Avenue. The complete project invested more than $900,000 in public and private funds to develop a mixed use space that will include: a coffee shop, commercial art studios, an art gallery/event space, as well as an employment training program.

The redevelopment of the historic Beacon Theatre was made possible by $4,500,000 in public investments. The project was complete in January 2014.

The Ignite Hopewell competition was funded by Ignite, a Seattle based company that is “a force raising the collective IQ and building connections in each city.” The competition consisted of a portion of community members giving five-minute presentations on projects, ideas, personal and/or professional passions. The winner of the Ignite Hopewell competition was awarded to Sara Jackson for a Summer Art Camp idea, Girl Scout Troop 3001 for their Urban Garden Idea and Faithea Flowers for her financially and physically fit service project.

Virginia Housing Development Authority awarded the HDP with a $20,000 grant to provide planning resources to pursue mixed-use development as a tool to improve the downtown district. We used the grant to conduct affordable and market-rate housing studies to plan for the redevelopment of some of the old housing stock within downtown Hopewell.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields program empowers states, communities and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfield sites. A brownfield site is a property whose redevelopment may be complicated by the presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. The EPA selected the City of Hopewell for two $200,000 Brownfield assessment grants. These grants were used to conduct six Phase I& and two Phase II environment site assessments for hazardous substances as well as eight Phase I and four Phase II for environment site assessments for petroleum. The grants were used to conduct clean up planning, and support public meetings and informational materials.

The Community Business Launch program was initiated by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) in 2015 and pioneered in three communities including Hopewell. The program consisted of an intensive entrepreneurial bootcamp where participants learned the basics of business and writing a business plan. Then, each participant pitched their business to a set of judges and a few were selected as grant recipients to open their proposed business in downtown Hopewell. K&J Fitness was a CBL grant winner, as well as Sweet Tooth Candy (open in Little Shops on Main) and Fat Babz Donut Shop (opening mid- 2018).

The Cameron Foundation awarded the HDP with a $30,000 capacity-building grant that allowed us to hire a second staff member. “This capacity-building support from the Cameron Foundation adds momentum to the Hopewell Downtown Partnership’s work in revitalizing the city’s historic downtown area and also contributes to our investments in fostering an economically vital region,” said Cameron Foundation President J. Todd Graham. This grant allowed us to expand our promotional, fundraising and economic development capacity. Since adding an additional employee, we’ve created a new summer event series, Third Thursdays; improved upon other community events; and brought new interest and awareness to the downtown district.

The HDP received a $25,000 feasibility study grant and partnered with the Center for Urban and Regional Planning at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Douglass L. Wilder School of Government and Public to conduct research and analyze the potential uses of a 14,000 square foot building that’s owned by the city. The research team explored many options and concluded that a makerspace would be feasible in downtown Hopewell.