WILLIAMSBURG — The African American Heritage Trail, a new Colonial Williamsburg arrival center and a new performance venue are among the projects put to the Williamsburg City Council for future funding through a tourism fund.
At the Oct. 12 council meeting, city Tourism Development Specialist Joanna Skrabala presented recommendations totaling more than $1.7 million this fiscal year across six different projects. The council is set to vote on the recommendations Nov. 6.
Recommendations from the Tourism Development Grant Review Committee include $316,000 for the African American Heritage Trail, plus an additional $200,000 in fiscal year 2025; $500,000 for the Colonial Williamsburg Arrivals Center, plus $500,000 in fiscal year 2025; $250,000 for improvements to First Baptist Church; $35,000 for enhancements in the gallery in the Stryker Center; $425,000 for phases 2 and 3 of the Wayfinding Master Plan and $100,000 for phase 4 of the Wayfinding Master Plan; and $100,000 for a 53,000-square-foot multipurpose performance center at the same location as the new sports complex.
According to the presentation, the recommendation for the Williamsburg Entertainment Venue also includes $100,000 of funding in fiscal year 2025 and $1 million for each subsequent year until the debt service is complete. The city previously allocated $5 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds for the venue.
“I think it’s time we make this type of investment in our community,” Mayor Doug Pons said of the new performance center. “(We) can’t simply rest on the laurels of past billionaires to come to Williamsburg and make investments as they did in Colonial Williamsburg or Busch Gardens or Anheuser-Busch. This is an opportunity for us to take this opportunity by the horns and make it happen.”
Vice Mayor Pat Dent said that all of the projects are important, each serving “a purpose to enhance Williamsburg,” while City Council member Stacy Kern-Scheerer called them “great investments in our community.”
The African American Heritage Trail has been included in the city’s Goals, Initiatives and Outcomes work plan since 2020. In January, the federal government passed legislation including $357,000 for the first phase of the project, including the construction of the trailhead at Lafayette Street, a public restroom and the first segment of the trail from Lafayette Street to Scotland Street. The trail will tell the Williamsburg story through the lens of African American history and run throughout downtown Williamsburg.
The Arrivals Center project will create a new area for buses, cars and rideshare service access to the historic area, replacing some office facilities used by the foundation. The intention is to reduce traffic congestion.
Enhancements to First Baptist Church will include a re-designed and updated exhibition space, while enhancements at the Stryker Gallery will include the addition of new interactive and digital displays as well as a door counter.
Funding for the Wayfinding Master Plan’s second, third and fourth phases will go toward parking signage, digital kiosks and lantern sculptures installed at entry points to the city such as Capitol Landing Road and Monticello Avenue.
The fund itself came about in July 2018, when a Senate bill introduced a 1% increase in sales tax for the city, James City County and York County. The different localities determine what to do with those funds. For the city, a portion of the funds is put into the Tourism Development Fund, which is designed to increase patronage to restaurants, attractions, hotels and events in the city.
The first round of recommendations was made in 2019, and five projects were approved for funding, including the fourth lighted softball field at Kiwanis Park, which is nearing completion, plus in-progress projects, such as new furniture for City Square Plaza, the Indoor Sports Complex and more.
In other business at last week’s meeting, the City Council was presented with the 2024 Draft Legislative Agenda, which identifies potential legislative issues for consideration. The council will review the items for the development of a legislative agenda that will be adopted in November.
Priority issues identified by staff include reforming public notice requirements, state funding for the Birthplace of America Trail, which is carrying over from the 2023 agenda, funding for infrastructure and tourism projects as part of the upcoming commemoration of the semiquincentennial and the protection of local zoning authority, which would let land use decisions stay implemented at the local level.
Assistant City Manager Michele Mixner DeWitt recommended that the council identify three or four priority issues, which city staff will talk to legislators about before, during and after the General Assembly session, which begins in January.
Sian Wilkerson, 757-342-6616, sian.wilkerson@pilotonline.com