As Richmond magazine marks its fourth decade, we step inside 1979 — and find its footprints on today.
Photo courtesy Richmond Times-Dispatch
BACKSTORY: In 1979, two camps had lined up downtown: big business titans and Mayor Henry Marsh III backing a lofty two-phase revitalization development dubbed “Project One” versus opposition that included more than 50 small businesses, all slated for relocation or removal.
Anchored by a “Convention Center Complex” bounded by Broad, Clay, Fourth and Seventh streets, “Project One” promised to restore the city center’s retail glory. By 1979, the city had made commitments toward construction of a 186,000-square-foot convention center estimated to cost $12.75 million that would parallel a new office complex, a neighboring 400-plus-room hotel, and a retail center that was ultimately named Sixth Street Marketplace.
Lee Tait, a vice president at C&P Telephone Co., noted in Richmond magazine that every day of delay on Project One cost taxpayers an estimated $4.5 million in additional interest on the bonds to finance it. Donald Cooper, director of the Richmond Independent Taxpayers Association, fired back: “Businesses which stayed loyal to Richmond and didn’t move away, thereby competing with the core city, will be destroyed by Project One.”
Cooper also said the city consultants’ figures — including a projected $6.5 million profit in 20 years — relied on outrageous assumptions. Ultimately, more than 55 businesses were bought or acquired by the RRHA through eminent domain to make way for Project One. Sixth Street Marketplace opened in 1985, but it was bulldozed by 2003 after the city couldn’t turn a profit from the site.
TODAY: Dominion Energy CEO Tom Farrell recently shared a gripe with a group of commercial real estate professionals: “If I hear about that again as long as I live — ‘Hey, we did the Sixth Street Marketplace 35 years ago, and that didn’t work. How can we do something else?’ Are you kidding me?” His comment was part of a pitch to entice private support for the $1.4 billion proposed Navy Hill redevelopment project championed by Mayor Levar Stoney’s administration, which is still in negotiations with NH District Corp., the nonprofit headed by Farrell and Altria CEO Marty Barrington.
More Moments From 1979
A Baby Is Born
Then: Historian Jon Kukla and his wife, Jeanette, announced the Feb. 8 arrival of their daughter Amy Marie in 18th-century style.
Now: Jon and Amy wrote a young adult book about Patrick Henry in 2002, and Jon’s 2017 biography on Patrick Henry was nominated for a Library of Virginia book award.
Gay Rights, Human Rights
Then: The late Rev. Edward “Pope” Gregory, who held Richmond’s first gay wedding at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in 1978, was president of Richmond Area Council on Human Relations, which unsuccessfully lobbied for inclusion of sexual orientation in the city’s nondiscrimination codes.
Now: Because of Richmond’s nondiscrimination laws, LGBTQ liaison and transgender-inclusive health benefits, the Human Rights Campaign rated the city 94 out of 100 in 2018.
Photo courtesy The Valentine
ERA Then, ERA Now
Then: Reminiscent of the suffragettes, supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment (above) ringed the Virginia State Capitol, seeking ratification from the General Assembly.
Now: There was momentum this year for Virginia to become the crucial 38th state to ratify the ERA.
Photo courtesy The Valentine
Power Broker Game
Then: “Tryology” comes out in cities across the country, including Richmond. Touted as “the game of buying and selling that lets you become Richmond’s richest power broker,” the triangular game board uses names of local businesses and organizations.
Now: Top contenders: Altria and Dominion Energy.
