Hello and welcome back to Danville Field Notes, a weekly column of small news items from around the Southside area.
This week, I’ve included two exciting announcements in Danville — the unveiling of a historic marker and the opening of a new campus for students with autism, learning disabilities and other special needs.
There’s also information about a road resurfacing project on North Main Street in Danville that begins Monday.
This column runs at the beginning of every week, and if there’s something you think I should include next week, let me know! You can reach me at grace@cardinalnews.org.
New historic marker recognizes Hippodrome Theater, which will soon be revitalized
The Hippodrome Theater on North Union Street in Danville was the first theater in the city built specifically for Black audiences and Black performers.
A historic marker was unveiled Tuesday outside the building, which has been vacant for years, though plans for a facelift are in progress.
The theater was built in 1917 during the Jim Crow era, offering both live entertainment and films for Black audiences.
Other early theaters in Danville had partitions to separate the Black and white attendees, said local historian Jonathan Hackworth, who was behind the application for a historic marker at the Hippodrome.
The Hippodrome “was the first one built from scratch, foundation-up” for the Black community, Hackworth said in an interview last year.
Five years after it opened, the Hippodrome became part of the Theater Owners’ Booking Association, a circuit of vaudeville shows that traveled to theaters serving African Americans.
“TOBA developed the careers of Black artists and booked them across the eastern half of the U.S., playing a foundational role in the entertainment industry,” the historic marker reads.
National performers like blues pioneer Mamie Smith and Gonzell White’s Jazzers performed at the Hippodrome, according to the marker.
The theater is “a reminder that the city has always had its hands in the arts and entertainment,” said Karice Luck-Brimmer, a Black historian and genealogist, at the marker unveiling ceremony.
“For far too long, there has been a scarcity of markers representing African American history and culture,” Luck-Brimmer said. “The statistics were so troubling that DHR has taken steps to ensure these narratives reflect a more inclusive society.”
In 2024, there were 2,698 markers in Virginia. About 17% of those, or 451, focus on Black history.
Over the last 10 years, 55% of all new markers have highlighted Black history, “a topic that was largely ignored in the program’s first five decades,” said Mark Pulice with DHR at the unveiling ceremony. That figure rises to 67% when looking at the last five years.
The Hippodrome building has been vacant in recent years. It officially closed as a theater in 1935, and it burned in 1962.
The building is now owned by locals Steven and Megan Gould. The Goulds are working with the city to rehabilitate the facade of the building and re-add a second story, since the original Hippodrome Theater was a two-story building. They don’t yet have a timeline for this project, they said.
Rivermont Schools has a new campus in Danville
A ribbon- cutting ceremony last week celebrated the opening of a new location for Rivermont Schools, which provides specialized education and support for students with autism and emotional support needs.
The building, a former furniture store on Lowes Drive in Danville, is more than 20,000 square feet with 14 classrooms, dedicated therapy rooms, a gym, playground, cafeteria, library, life skills and sensory rooms, said a news release.
The new location allows for more flexibility in student grouping, individualized instruction, support services and recreation than the previous location on Piney Forest Road in Danville, the release said.
Rivermont Schools has 90 locations in Virginia and has been serving the Danville community for 28 years, said Beth Ackerman, senior vice president for Rivermont Schools, at the ceremony.
“This is long deserved,” Ackerman said. “If you saw their previous facility and where we had them, it is one we always wanted to move, so their kids and their staff could feel as though they’re going to a school every day.”
Tia Hairston, principal of the Danville campus, said students and staff “have a space that they can be proud of now.”
Street resurfacing to begin on North Main after delays
Resurfacing work on North Main Street is scheduled to begin Monday, after being pushed back about a month.
The repaving was initially scheduled for July, subject to weather conditions and other factors. A news release from the city announced that the work will officially begin this week and is expected to take about two weeks, weather permitting.
Adams Construction will mill and pave North Main from Third Avenue to Meadowbrook Drive, a stretch of road that is just under a mile long.
The work will generally take place between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., and traffic will be allowed to pass through the work zone. Some side streets along the west side of North Main may be temporarily closed, and on-street parking will also be restricted within the work area during construction.
“Motorists should expect delays and are encouraged to use alternate routes when possible,” the release states.
