The Town of Blacksburg will host a meeting tomorrow to discuss ways to sustain the town's historic district in the midst of renovation and revitalization.
The meeting will be open to the public and play host to community members, the Sixteen Squares committee and Virginia Tech's Community Design Assistance Center. The gathering will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Kent Square Lobby, located at the corner of Main and Washington Streets.
In 1798, the Town of Blacksburg was laid out in a 16-square grid, which covered a 38-acre land plot bordered on four sides by Jackson, Draper, Clay and Wharton Streets. Inside this original grid, is an assortment of establishments, ranging from homes and rental properties, to churches and businesses, to open space and parking lots.
Though many of the 16 blocks now serve a different function than they originally did, a committee was formed this year to promote community awareness of the historic significance of downtown Blacksburg.
The Sixteen Squares committee has been working closely with Tech's Community Design Assistance Center. The CDAC was presented with the committee's four goals to identify, educate, preserve and develop, and with plans to share what ideas they have formulated to meet these points.
The CDAC is an outreach center that communities hire on a project-by-project basis.
Kim Steika, the CDAC landscape architecture coordinator, said that the meeting is not to establish any formal plans for the downtown area; rather, it is a gathering for information sharing and collecting.
Steika said that community input is extremely important to the project and encourages town inhabitants to attend and voice their opinions and ideas. Steika added that she hopes those who attend can leave the meeting better informed.
"For some people who live in the area, it will increase the awareness of the assets here and help spark some enthusiasm for the great potential in this area," Steika said. "We are also hoping to take from the residents some ideas on how we can achieve goals."
Blacksburg museum administrator Terry Nicholson said the original idea was to establish a plan that could implement education programs about what the 16 squares are, as well as the value of the historic district.
"There is a rich history that stretches over 200 years," Nicholson said. "It shows development of history over that period of time."
Nicholson specifically mentioned the possibility of posting signs downtown to inform residents and visitors when they are entering and exiting historical districts. He said that the existence of the sixteen squares today is highly meaningful and representative of the town's growth.
"It really represents the development of the Town of Blacksburg," Nicholson said. "It dates back to the beginning of the town. The fact that the original layout has survived is indicative of its significance, and the development continues to be aware of that."
Though emphasis has been placed on preserving the historical district, all parties agree that this should not halt the town's growth. Rather, the town must be mindful of preservation while still persevering in development.
Blacksburg mayor Ron Rordam expressed confidence in the parties involved in town development, noting the weight of its cause.
"It's important that as you grow, you also continue to remember your history," Rordam said. "Looking more and more at trying to grow and focusing on the downtown area, we are really growing to an environmentally sustainable community."
Nicholson added that the general goal is to bring development in and still safeguard the historical values.
"We need to revitalize the downtown and bring businesses in, but we also want to preserve its character in the ways that we can, even if they may not continue to be used for the function they were built with," Nicholson said.
Steika echoed Nicholson's sentiment, stressing subtlety of detail and articulating that new things can be incorporated into the town's design without being detrimental.
"The Sixteen Squares committee realizes that the history has been evolving and are not trying to hold Blacksburg at one point in time," Steika said. "They are trying to make sure that in the process, specific structures, like the Blacksburg museum ... and historic churches are preserved."
Steika's view of combining the past and present was described by Nicholson as adaptive reuse, meaning to employ historic structures and quadrants for modernized purposes.
Though their response has largely been positive, Nicholson and Steika both named certain mistakes they thought the town had made over the years.
"There was a lovely church on Draper, and now there is a 7/11," Steika said.
Nicholson added that while certain actions could have been taken for the betterment of the town, they have learned from their mistakes and managed to draw positives from otherwise negative situations.
While the official voice of the community will not be heard until the meeting, Rordam, who has held his mayoral position for just under one year, noted several opinions that will likely be heard.
"I think people want to see a vibrant downtown that focuses on the arts, a downtown that is full of locally owned businesses and rich in history and diversity and a downtown that incorporates the students and local community," Rordam said.
Regardless of the substance of the town's opinion, Rordam, Steika and Nicholson feel that all input should be taken to heart.
"A tremendous amount of value is put on community input," Rordam said. "More and more, a great deal of people are paying attention to our history and becoming involved. We have good people involved."