Holiday decorations return to dowtown

Danville Public Works Department workers last week began hanging the red holiday banners and candy canes that until last year had adorned the street light poles on Main and Union streets downtown from Thanksgiving through Christmas since 2004.

Due to the start last year of the first phase of the streetscape project, city workers were unable to hang lights and other holiday decorations a year ago.

With the project now mostly complete, the decorations have returned.

In the days ahead, Public Works and Utilities crews will hang snowflake lights and swags on Main Street and wreaths on Craghead Street.

The annual effort is aimed at making downtown streets festive in preparation for events such as the annual Holiday Market, which will be held Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Community Market, and the annual Luminary Trail Walk, which will be held Friday, Dec. 13, at the Crossing at the Dan.
In addition, the annual Riverview Rotary Christmas Parade will return Saturday, Dec. 14, to its traditional downtown route along Main Street.

Construction on the first phase of the streetscape project began in September 2012. The project focused on three blocks of Main Street and one block of Union Street. The activity ranged from widening sidewalks and installing brick pavers to creating more visible and safer pedestrian crossings and providing amenities such as trees, benches and new lighting.

The city is in the process of creating a punch list or list of final tasks for the general contractor, Virginia Carolina Paving of South Boston, to carry out in order to end this phase. The contractor will receive that list this week.

Construction continues in the second phase of streetscape improvements. This phase began in April of this year. It includes creation of the Main Street Plaza and installation of a fountain in front of Lou’s Antiques and Jakes on Main.

Masonry work on the fountain is scheduled for completion in the next two weeks. When completed, concrete will be poured around the fountain. The other remaining tasks include installation of light poles and benches in the plaza and construction of crosswalks on Memorial Drive and Craghead Street.

River District Events - November 22nd & 23rd

The Holiday Bazaar

Saturday, November 23rd - Kick off your holiday season at one of our favorite events at the Danville Community Market. Browse dozens of vendors selling the finest in handmade crafts, jewelry, baked goods, jams, jellies, treats and more! Free admission (Click here: http://ow.ly/r37F5)

A Holiday Open House

Saturday, November 23rd - Chestnut Lane and Vintages by the Dan will have wine and beer tastings, special sales, craft demonstration, food samplings, and representatives from the following vendors for purchases and orders:  Initial It, Tastefully Simple, Rodan & Fields, and Origami Owl (Click here http://ow.ly/r3aoL)

The Golden Leaf Bistro

Friday, November 22nd - Click here to learn about their music entertainment for tomorrow evening. Saxophone Extraordinaire Tony Bowman live Friday night at 6:30 in the main dining room. The Golden Leaf Bistro is now open for lunch on Saturdays.

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Congratulations to the Danville Science Center

"The J.T.-Minnie Maude Charitable Trust bestowed a gift of $100,000 to the Danville Science Center this week. The funds will go toward the center’s 'Create the Wonder' campaign, an initiative to help bring new programming to the Science Center’s Digital Dome Theater." Click here for the full article.

Streetscape Update

River District residents, employees, and visitors: Watch for altered traffic patterns next week during milling and paving on several blocks.

Pemberton Lofts - Open House

You're Invited!

 

Thursday, September 5

4:30 p.m.

541 Bridge Street

 

Hosted By: Hampton Wilkins

 

For more information on the Pemberton Lofts, visit www.pembertonlofts.com

 

 

 

 

 

JTI Fountain Groundbreaking

The fountain and plaza are part of the second phase of streetscape improvements in the River District. Construction began in April with the shift of downtown bridge traffic and installation of a storm drainage system. Since then, a pedestrian walkway with brick pavers has been put in place from Craghead Street and Memorial Drive to Bridge Street.

The plaza’s most notable amenity, however, will be a multi-stage fountain that will be 40 feet in diameter. In the upper stage, seven water jets will shoot water vertically. The seven jets represent the Tobacco Warehouse District’s seven blocks, from the Carrington Pavilion to the new fountain.
Below the jets will be scuppers that will allow the water to flow into the lower stage. Spills will be placed at each end. The fountain also will feature programmable color lighting.

The fountain will be the focal point of the pedestrian plaza under construction in front of Lou’s Antiques, Jake’s on Main and Amburn & Co. Salon and Spa on Main.

JTI donated the money to pay for the materials and construction of the fountain to symbolize the legacy of tobacco as an economic engine for Danville over a span of four centuries. JTI buys tobacco from farmers and processes it at its Danville facility. The company is a division of Japan Tobacco Inc., headquartered in Switzerland.

Mayor Saunders thanks Steve Daniels on behalf of the City of Danville.

 

The fountain is expected to be completed in about 4 months.

Downtown Danville Association Moves Forward

Posted: Friday, August 9, 2013

Work It, SoVa newsadvance.com

The Downtown Danville Association welcomes three new officers and five new members to its board of directors, as a result of elections held at the recent annual meeting.

Elected to fill the slots of president, vice president, and treasurer are Jeffrey Bond, Dewberry; Wendi Goods-Everson, Danville Regional Foundation; and Richard Phelps, National Guard. They join Corrie Teague of the Danville Office of Economic Development, who continues as secretary. The new officers replace Robert Brooks, Dale Hutchens and Peggy Wright.
 

Joining the DDA board of directors are Cara Burton, Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History; Marietta Sanford, Averett University; Robin Jones, Vintages by the Dan; Barbara Seamster, 1045TheDan & Co. Legends 103.7; and Varun Sadana, The Launch Place.

Board members who will continue to serve include Jerry Amburn, Amburn and Co. Salon and Spa on Main; Robert Brooks, retired; Steve Farrar, retired; Phillip Hayes, Noblis; Dale Hutchens, Wilkins & Co. Realtors; Kelvin Perry, First State Bank; Earl Reynolds, City of Danville; Serena Rigsby, First Citizens Bank; and Peggy Wright, Averett University.

"The DDA is at an exciting juncture in its history", said Bond. "As a result of grant funding from the Danville Regional Foundation, we are working with a consultant to improve and enhance the organization and its positive impact on the River District." Added Brooks, "I am very confident that our new officers and board members will continue to move the organization forward, so we can serve a vital part of Danville's future."

Founded in 1999, the Downtown Danville Association is a registered non-profit, established with the goal of promoting and advocating for the city's traditional core downtown area. It currently has nearly 100 members from across the city and the region.



From Left to Right: Richard Phelps, Jeffrey Bond, Wendi Everson, and Corrie Teague 

 

Imagination Playground debuting at Danville Science Center

Posted: Wednesday, August 7, 2013
By DENICE THIBODEAU

Photo courtesy Tom Moore/Imagination Playground

Enormous lightweight blocks in a variety of shapes will be the centerpiece of a new interactive children’s exhibit at Danville Science Center set to premiere from 9:30 a.m. to noon Saturday.

The Imagination Playground can be set up indoors or out, and Science Center Executive Director Jeff Liverman said the weather will dictate where visitors to the center will find it.

“If it’s raining, it will be set up in the Community Market,” Liverman said. “If it’s nice out, it will be outside.”

Children can build whatever inspires them and play on their creations afterward.
All of this “play” is a cleverly disguised effort to reinforce principals of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) sciences in the young participants.

The block system “allows children of multiple ages to have access to productive and collaborative play while experientially integrating concepts of physics, math and engineering,” according to a news release from the Science Center. “With the full dome theater expansion project slated for completion by the end of this year, our campus at The Crossing at the Dan will include more outdoor areas.
Through this project, not only will STEM learning and cooperative play be enhanced in our community, but as a designated site in Danville’s ‘Play City’ initiative, these new exhibits will nicely support the city’s work in expanding and promoting economically and physically accessible play spaces.”

While the blocks — “There are a whole lot of them,” Liverman said — will be stored at the science center permanently they will not always be available.

“We’ll bring them out for special events. For instance, they will be out at the Carrington Pavilion for children to play with during (the River District Festival, Oct. 3-4),” Liverman said.

Click here to access the original release

Click here for more photos