Push For Norfolk Arts District In Full Effect

The proposed Norfolk Arts District has been picking up some good traction recently.  The Pilot reported last week that the initiative to create an art utopia in the neglected area on Granby St. north of Brambleton Ave., is gaining increasing support from Norfolk leaders and property owners.

The old Zed's Auction House in the heart of the proposed Arts District

CC Image courtesy of  SummerSizzler on Flickr

Essentially, the district would be an area for artists to live, work, play, and display their talents.  The proposal, piloted by Jesse Scaccia and Hannah Serrano of AltDaily, takes the entire area north of Brambleton Ave. all the way west towards Harrison Opera House, the Chrysler Museum and the Chrysler Glass Studio, already popular art attractions.  

The goal is to persuade city leaders to loosen up on strict city ordinances and zoning changes for the area to allow for more public art displays, art galleries, studios, and restaurants.  Parks and community gardens have been mentioned as well.

This idea really is well on it's way to becoming a reality.  The idea has been endorsed by the Downtown Norfolk Civic League.  A nonprofit is currently working on the ordinance change that would enable things to move forward.  The city and local arts groups have applied for grants to help pay for some of the projects.  Organizers have also created a Facebook page to drum up support.

A wild card in all of this may be the folks from "Better Block," who recently came to town to scout out some areas downtown and you have to think this was one of them.  According to its website, the Better Block specializes in revitalizing neighborhoods.

"The "Better Block" project is a demonstration tool that revisions an area to show the potential to create a great walkable, vibrant neighborhood center. The project acts as a living charrette so that communities can actively engage in the "complete streets" buildout process and develop pop-up businesses to show the potential for revitalized economic activity in an area. Better Blocks are now being performed throughout the country, and have helped cities rapidly implement infrastructure and policy changes. This site is dedicated to providing news, information, and utilities to help cities develop their own Better Block projects and to create a resource for best practices."

Click here for a great video of how it all works!  Hopefully, the proposed arts district is one of the things their looking at.  Either way, the proposal is expected to go before city council within the next few months, so we should know soon enough.