PREVENT THE RENOVATION OF TRAILWAYS BUS STATION INTO A "GROCERY" STORE

The Trailways Bus Station - a pivotal landmark of the states' Civil Rights Movement - was designated a state historic landmark and could possibly hold that honor nationally. This is huge. The station was desegregated in August of 1960 following a series of sit-ins held by local civil rights leader Wyatt Tee Walker, the former chief-of-staff to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The bus station is the only unaltered mid-20th Century bus station in the state that the Virginia Department of Historic Resources has documented. The station was selected by the VDHR for architecture that accommodated racial segregation.

City Council voted on March 23, 2014, to begin the process to sell the property to Metropolitan Reality, a Vienna-based real estate group. The real estate group proposed plans to repurpose the property into a grocery store - not a convenience store - run by a "tenant". Since the city appears to hold TOURISM AS IT'S MAIN INDUSTRY, turning it into a store does not appear to be the most prudent use of the property.

It was first rumored that many in the city previously advocated for the building to be renovated into a civil rights museum.The allure of a museum at the Bus Station; would greatly enhance and add to this city' and surrounding areas tourist "personna". A Civil Rights Museum would do wonders to fill the city coufers with "tourists" dollars from travelers moving up and down the I-95/85 corridor. For the traveler, tourist, history buff, etc....they would be viewing the history of one of the prominent areas of the Civil Rights movement inside the place where it actually happened. Having the VDHS sanction this and placing it on the national and state historical registry...this type of "promotion" could be worth millions to the city. Placing it on the tour line would create jobs, from museum curators to tour guides, security, custodial, etc. The tourist "spin-off" dollars to restaurants, shops; to include retail and barber...lol...taxi service, etc., would boost the citys' economy.

Therefore, we the citizens of Petersburg, Va., due respectfully petition the council to: (1) reverse and/or withhold the sale of The Trailways Bus Station property,(2) Hold a public forum for citizen input and (3) If neccessary, conduct a "feasability" study as to which purported use of the property would better serve the city.

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