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Renderings imagine family-friendly additions to the nail shed on Belle Isle. (Image courtesy Marvel Architects)
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A rendering of a reimagined Belle Isle Hydro Plant (Image courtesy Marvel Architects)
Giles Garrison and Josh Stutz stare at the vast and decaying roof of the nail shed on Belle Isle and see potential.
“The structure is good. We probably need to make improvements to the roof,” says Garrison, superintendent of the James River Park System. Stutz, the executive director of the Friends of the James River Park, also wants to improve other abandoned structures and deter unruly behavior on the island.
The shed, a remnant of the Old Dominion Iron and Nail Works, is part of an overall vision for the popular park. A conceptual drawing from the architecture firm Marvel shows its potential transformation into a family-friendly area with picnic tables, planters and a skate park.
More than a decade ago, the shed was the venue for Slaughterama, an annual beer-fueled festival for bicyclists described by Garrison as “bike jousting and general rowdiness.”
“It has always been a Wild West for Richmond,” Garrison says. “There was gambling, cockfighting and dog racing,” citing T. Tyler Potterfield’s book “Nonesuch Place: A History of the Richmond Landscape.”
Potential projects to reimagine Belle Isle range from the attainable to the futuristic, such as a children’s nature exploration area under the Robert E. Lee Memorial Bridge and a reinvention of the old hydroelectric plant by the dry rocks. Marvel’s drawings went on display at the park’s headquarters in April. Exact cost estimates for what would be a multimillion-dollar project are not yet available.
A play area, which utilizes tree trunks, driftwood and boulders, was approved by city planners in May and awaits permission from easement holders. “I see it as a bridge to allow kids to develop a love for the outdoors from an early age,” Garrison says. She hopes construction can begin in the fall.
Josh Stutz, executive director of Friends of the James River Park, stands with James River Park System Superintendent Giles Garrison in the nail shed on Belle Isle. (Photo by David Macaulay)
The park is also considering a proposal by bike park builder DirtSculpt to upgrade the existing bike pump track and skills course. There is no timeline for the project or the nail shed restoration, but the park is receiving public input now.
Marvel’s concept for the power plant is futuristic and “super ambitious,” Garrison says. The drawings show a steel frame around the ruined structure and a public walkway below a building not presently open to visitors.
“There’s a lot of graffiti and vandalism. The vandalism, the bottle smashing, underage drinking around the power plant spill onto the dry rocks,” Stutz says. “One of the management steps we want to take is to improve that space to make it less attractive for something like that.”
Marvel’s designs include an “outdoor living room” project by the rolling mill wall and a walkway around the quarry. “We are trying to widen it so [the] public can enjoy the quarry pond,” Garrison says.
What happens on Belle Isle may guide the transformation of Mayo Island, bought by the city for $15 million in early 2024, but the replacement of the 14th Street Bridge will dictate the island’s future. The blueprint for Belle Isle has yet to be formally adopted.
Garrison says she can give few details before the 14th Street Bridge replacement is finalized. At a public meeting in March, she described a “floodable park” with additional river accesses. She also floated the removal of some structures and hard concrete.
Although the vision for Belle Isle is embryonic and Mayo’s future is uncertain, combined with Venture Richmond’s $30 million upgrade plan for Brown’s Island and a new waterfront amphitheater, it adds up to a major investment in Richmond’s historic islands.
