On Danville’s North Main Hill, new additions are complementing familiar features.
The historic North Theatre, which opened in 1947, still stands tall on North Main Street, but its marquee is changing more often, with new shows coming to the area on a more regular basis.
A dilapidated building across the street still has its recognizable light yellow paint, but now there are construction workers, wearing a brighter yellow, moving throughout the building and across the roof.
A book box, a pollinator garden and neighborhood events around the holidays are also new, and all part of a plan to revitalize the area, spearheaded by a group of engaged community members called the North Main Visionaries.
Revitalizing a neighborhood doesn’t happen overnight — especially when the neighborhood lost investments and attention over the years.
Now, community engagement is a priority. That’s how the work began in North Danville several years ago, and now, those projects are gaining traction and speeding up. As evidence: More than $2 million in seed money has been made available.
There’s still a lot to do, “but it’s amazing to see how fast the work is moving now,” said Lashawn Farmer with the River District Association.
North Danville — across the Dan River from the city’s downtown — is a business district with a rich history, home to some of the city’s historic Black neighborhoods, such as Camp Grove.
About 15 years ago, when Danville began its economic comeback from the closure of its main industries, the initial focus was on the River District. After about $300 million in private and public investment in that time span, the district’s revitalization has been largely successful.
Now, the idea is for that success to expand to other neighborhoods, such as North Danville.
Residents and business and property owners came together in 2024 to create the North Main Visionaries, a community-led collaborative working for revitalization.
The work began by gathering feedback about what these stakeholders wanted to see in their community, said Farmer, who organized these conversations. Compared to hiring a consultant to make recommendations, the approach is slower but more meaningful, she said.
“We had to tell the community that they had a voice, and we wanted to hear what they were saying,” Farmer said. “That has been the most powerful tool for success for us. Once they got invested, it just became about pushing the boulder downhill.”
“Locked in”
Neighborhood beautification projects, building renovations and plans for community events are all underway in North Danville, at a faster pace than before.
Each committee within the North Main Visionaries is busy with projects and plans, as well as aspirational goals for the future.
Lauren Smith, the arts and culture committee leader, said two new murals have been approved. They will be on either side of a building across from the Family Dollar, near the pocket park with the book box. There are also plans to add artwork to the neighborhood’s new rain garden at the bottom of North Main Hill.
“We have a LOVE sign that’s planned, we have a giant chessboard in the works, and we’re working with some local artists who do upcycled art from things that they find along the Riverwalk,” Smith said.
Takita Walker, who leads the economic growth committee, is busy planning Halloween and Christmas events to bring the community out into the neighborhood and raise awareness for the effort.
And Keisha Averett, the education committee leader, envisions educational resources for both children and adults in North Danville.
Since conversation began in 2022, more and more residents and property owners have become involved, and the North Main Visionaries now has 30 active members, Farmer said.
“People who were not invested in their buildings are now invested in their buildings,” she said. “The city is now invested in its buildings. The community is really locked in about what they want to see.”
Curb appeal and beautification were things that residents “were adamant about,” Farmer said, so the collaborative has enlisted the help of city departments.
“Public works now drives through every day and picks up trash, waters the flowers in the planters they’ve installed,” Farmer said.
People will be able to see these improvements at upcoming community events, the next of which will happen on Halloween.
The event, called Treats, Trunks and Treasures: A North Main Visionary Spooktacular, will include a trunk-or-treat as well as a resource fair in the gymnasium of the Salvation Army, said Walker, who is helping to plan the event.
The resource fair will bring in vendors and organizations to “show the people on North Main what businesses could be brought to the area,” Walker said. “I’d like to see more restaurants and more places to shop for groceries.”
She said she also plans to organize a Christmas carol crawl event though the neighborhood in December.
“Mostly, I just want to get people into the area so they can see its potential,” Walker said.
These events would be open to the entire Danville community, not just residents of North Danville, she said.
“This neighborhood was never going to be … low-hanging fruit”
The North Main Visionaries don’t shy away from hard work, or the funding challenges that come with revitalization, Farmer said.
“Funding is always a challenge for anybody, even in people’s personal lives,” Farmer said. “I will always say funding is the biggest obstacle, but we’ve always been able to combat that once we have a solidified plan of action.”
The initial work was kickstarted with funding that the River District Association received from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, and there have been in-kind donations from the city’s public works department and other government agencies, as well as matching funding from the Virginia Rural Health Association, Farmer said.
In fiscal years 2024 and 2025, the city allocated $450,000 in revenue from Caesars Virginia toward property acquisition and renovation on North Main Hill.
In March, the city celebrated the kickoff of a renovation project across the street from the Historic North Theatre.
The Danville Industrial Development Authority invested $1.7 million into the building, which will become commercial space on the first floor and residential space on the second floor, after decades of falling into disrepair.
Last year, a grant funded a new pollinator garden in North Danville, and the RDA paid an artist for a large mural on a concrete wall alongside North Main Street.
“One thing I’ve learned in nonprofit work is that you do the work and the funding will come,” Farmer said. “We solidify our wants and needs, and the funding has always come and somehow supported it. I hope that continues.”
Collaborations and partnerships have also helped, Farmer said. In addition to public works, the North Main Visionaries have also worked with Danville Parks and Recreation, the local health collaborative and the Salvation Army, which has hosted the group’s community meetings at its North Danville location.
“This neighborhood was never going to be what people call low-hanging fruit. There’s a ton of work that needs to be done, but we don’t shy away from that,” Farmer said. “What we lack in funding, we make up for in love.”
