As Richmond magazine marks its fourth decade, we step inside 1979 — and find its footprints on today.
Photo courtesy The Valentine
BACKSTORY: Mayor Henry Marsh III, appointed the city’s first African-American mayor by Richmond’s first majority-black City Council, feared that a proposed interstate bypass east of the city would only add to the retail downturn as suburban malls grew in popularity. Richmond had lost 40 percent of its retail revenues since 1974, and it was landlocked because state annexation laws prohibited cities with more than 125,000 people from expanding. “ ‘It’s like taking a wounded man, tying his hands behind his back, planting his feet in concrete and throwing him in the water and saying, ‘OK, let’s see you survive,’ ” Marsh said.
Virginia highway chief Harold King denied that the beltway build-out would further contribute to the city’s economic downturn, but a federal study estimated that Richmond and Petersburg could lose as much as $45 million in annual sales, $1.5 million in annual tax revenues and 1,500 jobs to the road by 1995.
The issue boiled down to what the Washington Post described as “a classic confrontation between white, mostly Republican suburbanites, who believe the road will ease their traffic-choked streets and spur large-scale development, and predominantly black and Democratic urban dwellers.”
Marsh, labeled in the local dailies as “Boss Henry” and “Controversy Man,” had been an early supporter of President Jimmy Carter, and he appealed to the White House. U.S. Transportation Secretary Brock Adams wrote a letter to Republican Virginia Gov. John Dalton indicating that federal dollars might be withheld if Marsh wasn’t satisfied, but the beltway was approved three days after the letter’s receipt. Marsh then went to the counties, negotiating for a share of tax revenues that would be the byproduct of the beltway, but received nothing.
TODAY: That beltway turned into what is now I-295. Marsh, now 85, reflects on this battle and others in a new biography. “The mayors of the cities are the people who are on the firing line,” Marsh said in a 1979 interview. Marsh, who had served on Council since 1966, left Council in 1991, and successfully served in the General Assembly from 1992-2014.
More Moments From 1979
Tiny Incisions
Then: Dr. Richard Caspari is one of two physicians performing arthroscopic surgery. Two years later, he removed two pieces of cartilage from 16-year-old gymnast Mary Lou Retton’s knee joint. Two months later, she won an Olympic gold medal.
Now: In January, the Arthroscopy Association of North America announced the creation of the Richard B. Caspari Society fund — recognition for his work as an innovator, a teacher and a mentor. Caspari died in 1990.
Mirrored Magic
Then: Disco is at its height, with eight clubs listed in an issue of Richmond Lifestyle magazine, such as the Bee Hive, Fielden’s, Kosmos 2000 and Poor Boys.
Now: In Richmond dance studios, hip-hop, burlesque and bachata are popular. Fielden’s, under new ownership, still exists.
Paws for Applause
Then: In 1979, Richmond Animal League organizers opened what is now the region’s oldest non-kill shelter for homeless dogs and cats.
Now: The shelter will celebrate 25 years at its kennel near Chesterfield Towne Center in May.
Grace Street Facelift
Then: The city beautifies the retail-filled blocks between Fourth and Seventh streets with trees and wider sidewalks for $3 million. The Richmond Symphony purchases the Loew’s Theatre.
Now: Restaurants have replaced retail; a Hilton hotel and condos reside in the former Miller & Rhoads building; and the Carpenter Theatre at Dominion Energy Center (formerly Loew’s) is owned by the city.
