toledoblade.com --

RICHMOND, Va. - The 1788 state capitol designed by Thomas Jefferson stands a few blocks north of the Richbrau Brewing Co.

A few blocks south runs a 1785 canal championed by George Washington.

And down the cobblestone street in the historic Shockoe Slip neighborhood sits the birthplace of American freedom of religion.

In the middle of it all, Richbrau's owner Mike Byrne makes his own beer and serves hamburgers.

"Cities need to take advantage of their historic backgrounds," he said. "We have wonderful history. That's why I'm here."

ALSO

READ: Arena proves catalyst for Mich. city's revival

READ: Toledo primed for revitalization, but key components still missing

Shockoe Slip, not far from I-95 on the south side of downtown, emerged from a pile of ashes left by a retreating Confederate Army that had claimed Richmond as its capital before the arrival of Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army in April, 1865.

Much of the handcrafted woodwork inside Mr. Byrne's restaurant, including the tables and chairs, comes from the period just after the Civil War.

"This building was built in 1872," he said. "The building next door is 1866."

Jim Watkins, deputy director for Venture Richmond, a downtown promotion and support agency, said that after a lull in the early and mid 20th century, Shockoe Slip developers adopted orphaned buildings and created neighborhood mainstays, including the famed Tobacco Company restaurant.

"You had some entrepreneurs that opened up businesses there," he said. "They said, we're going to do this, this is good for our city."

Applying similar logic to Toledo's downtown development, city planners would like to reach back and bring along a history older than Schokoe Slip's Civil War roots.

Tom Lemon, principal planner for the Toledo-Lucas County Planning Commission, said the city needs to build on its past. "We have a collection of buildings from the late 19th and early 20th century. They portray kind of a different period in history," he said. "It's a pretty neat example of architecture."

Mr. Lemon explained that major new construction goes before the Toledo Historic District Commission, which offers guidance, though the commission technically has no approval power for the design.

Planners of the new downtown multipurpose arena, which will wear a classic mix of brick and glass on its exterior, heeded the older buildings flanking it before breaking ground in 2007.

"It was very important that the arena fit the downtown atmosphere," said Steve Miller who will serve as general manager for the arena. "They didn't want some kind of modern building that kind of stuck out."

"Looks aren't everything, but they always help."

The neighborhood of restored taverns and warehouses in Richmond throws visitors nearly 150 years back in time.

In the humid Virginia summers, well-shaped trees and light posts dressed with floral arrangements line uneven, red-brick sidewalks, worn from decades of foot traffic.

Building facades, perfectly manicured in a variety of dulled reds, whites, and greens, cling to 19th-century architecture.

Narrow alleyways duck between a number of Shockoe Slip's three-story structures.

"The Walt Disney Company came in to consult on a museum and they said it would cost them $100 million to build something like this," Mr. Byrne said.

Michael Jones, visiting from Maryland, said he and his daughter spent several days exploring historical sites in the area, including the River District canal near the east side of Shockoe Slip, not far from the building where Thomas Jefferson penned the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.

Flat-bottomed boats with light yellow fabric tops and a guide outfitted in colonial apparel take passengers on a 40-minute cruise down the canal, passing by the oldest warehouses and the newest high-rise condominiums bordering the James River's alternative route.

"I think the character of a city has everything to do with whether you want to come down to it," Mr. Jones said. "As a suburbanite, I need to have this kind of space. They do a nice job of that here."

Mr. Watkins commends historical groups for helping to maintain the identity of Shockoe Slip and certain government programs - historic tax credits and tax abatement incentives - for helping to ignite development in the neighborhood.

"You have to retain a lot of character of that old building if you want to be eligible for those tax credits, and the city has been embracing that."

Permanent Link