Reimagining the Bank of America Building: Community Visioning in Highland Park

Storefront for Community Design partnered with Maggie Walker Community Land Trust (MWCLT) to lead a community engagement process to receive feedback and ideas from residents for the new intended use of the former Bank of America building located at 1307 E Brookland Park Blvd in Northside’s Highland Park community. The Bank of America building closed in 2017 and ownership was transferred to the Richmond Land Bank, a program of MWCLT, in the hope of finding a suitable use and tenant in the coming years.

In late 2020, Storefront developed a creative digital and physical outreach plan to frame an accessible, culturally responsive community listening approach that amplified the ideas that Northside residents have regarding the intended use of the former Bank of America Building. Data and responses were collected and presented in a final report for the MWCLT Citizen Advisory Panel to consider as they determine future use of the building.

The existing Bank of America building on the left.

Prior to leading on-the-ground engagement efforts, Storefront and community partners developed three project goals:

1. Collaborative Engagement
With the help of two key community residents, identify and connect with varying audiences in Northside’s Highland Park community through in-person conversations and virtual open house presentations.


2. Meaningful Data collection
Utilizing a variety of methods, solicit feedback from community members on the potential use of the Bank of America building.


3. Effective reporting
Utilizing feedback, gather and synthesize responses into a final report that provides recommendations and next steps for a successful community-led project.

From late summer 2020 to winter 2021, Storefront and community partners approached the engagement and project delivery work in four phases.

Throughout the engagement process, Storefront and community partners followed a schedule that included four phases: Research and Background information, Branding Design and Community Survey, Community Engagement, and Final Recommendations.

During the research and background phase, the team reviewed the current conditions of the Bank of America building and also researched its past use. By visiting the building, taking photos and videos, and reviewing floor plans, the team was able to understand its current conditions and use this information to present to the community and also apply potential uses.

During the branding and community outreach phase, the team created fun and engaging posters to hang along the business corridor to gain interest from the community. Community voice leads and consultants canvassed the Highland Park business corridor and Brookland Park business corridor to discuss the bank building with local business owners. An online survey was also developed for all residents of the Northside, and beyond, to provide their ideas for the future of the bank building.

Photos of the interior and exterior conditions of the existing Bank of America building.

Posters and flyers developed to spark the interest of the community including links to the online community survey.

Due to COVID-19, the project partners were unable to directly engage with individuals in large groups. Staff, volunteers, and community leaders opted for virtual engagement and held an open house on December 15, 2020. The project partners presented their research from Phase 1 and Phase 2 and provided case studies to spark the imagination of attendees.

The project partners also attended the Highland Park Quality of Life meeting to present their findings and ideas to community members in attendance. Both presentations provided attendees the forum to voice their ideas, concerns, and questions regarding the use of the bank building.

Virtual open house presentation to community members.

In the final phase, Storefront and community partners developed a report that included final recommendations for the MWCLT Citizens’ Advisory Panel and MWCLT Board to consider as they determine future use of the building. After a thorough review of the survey results, conversations, and virtual chats, the following top five uses are initial recommendations for the Bank of America building.

1. Grocery / Farmer’s Market
Potential business models may include affordable products, commercial kitchen space, food hall, and / or pharmacy.


2. Restaurant
Business models may include black-owned or community-based small businesses with the inclusion of healthy food options.


3. Coffee Shop / Café / Bakery
Business models may include black-owned or community-based small businesses in a creative space.


4. Community Center
Business models may include performing arts, business incubators for the arts, social gathering space, entertainment, and / or co-working space.


5. Doctor’s Office / Preventative Health
Business models may include vaccination center, in-home health services to community members, health education, and / or sidewalk labs.

MWCLT staff are preparing a draft RFP that includes these community priorities. They will be gathering comments on the report published by Storefront for Community Design and presenting it at a public Citizens Advisory Panel meeting on May 8, 2021. To share your comments, impressions, and questions, check out the Richmond Land Bank website to review the report and discover next steps. In addition, if you are interested to participate in future engagement opportunities as the building development progresses, submit your contact information in the form on the RLB Bank of America webpage.

Download the Full Report: Reimagining the Bank of America Building: Community Engagement Report

Storefront Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Each year, Valentine’s Day reminds us to purposefully demonstrate love, care, and support for our families, friends, and communities. This year’s holiday also marks Storefront for Community Design’s 10th anniversary and we want to shout a huge THANK YOU for your support in making our first ten years a success.

Since the beginning, we set out to make design accessible to all “for the love of our city.” Through partnerships and community collaborations, we continue to discover new ways of seeking Richmond's physical and social transformation through design and community voice. After an incredible ten years, we remain humble, yet excited for the possibilities that lie ahead for our organization, partners, and neighbors.

Our Board of Directors, staff, and partners are excited to celebrate this milestone anniversary throughout the year, so stay tuned for ways to get involved. To kickstart our celebration, here’s a few ways you can show your support today.

• Donate to Storefront to support our next ten years

• Volunteer as a Session Designer

• Share our story with your network

Whether you’ve been with Storefront from the beginning or just a short time, we wanted to celebrate our anniversary with a look back over the last ten years. Enjoy the memories and accomplishments of our community and we look forward to making many more with you in the coming years. Now, it’s time to celebrate!

image: Timeline of Storefront Milestones

2009: The Beginning

Sometime in 2009, Storefront Founding member Burt Pinnock, FAIA, NOMA, received a call from Cynthia Newbille, 7th Voter District Council Representative. The Old and Historic District (O&HD) had been expanded in her district and she wanted to figure out how to bring design services to her constituents, many of whom lived below the poverty line. With the added design overlay of an O&HD, things like adding a ramp or replacing windows became that much more complicated for community members.

Soon after, he connected with others who were convinced that a city-wide design center was desperately needed. With a vote of confidence from the City Council, Storefront was founded on February 14, 2011 in the East End of Richmond on 25th Street. Additional founding Partners included community members, members of the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods, affordable housing developers, City of Richmond Planning and Economic Development departments, members from VCU’s Urban and Regional Planning program, and practicing architects, landscape architects, urban planners, and preservationists.

Storefront set out to make design accessible to all “for the love of our city” by providing pro bono design and planning assistance to support local businesses, residences, organizations, and neighborhoods. Think of Storefront as the architecture, design, and planning equivalent of legal aid for a free clinic. Our services would soon connect Richmonders to one another in a variety of ways, with the end goal of seeing an improved quality of life for all residents of the City of Richmond.

2011-2014

In 2011, Storefront’s programming included Community Workshops, Community Improvement Days, and Design Session. To this day, our Community Workshops and Design Sessions have been the lynchpin throughout our programming. Community workshops have facilitated public input and engagement offerings for neighborhood, civic, merchant, and friends’ associations throughout the city; Design Session has provided a pro bono design assistance program that offers one-on-one advise, sketches, and plans of action from volunteer design and planning professionals; and Community Improvement Days have created a way of gathering volunteers to add fresh coats of paint, plant trees and flowers, and pick-up trash in our neighborhoods. Since 2011, Storefront has completed over 300 Design Sessions, over 25 community engagement processes and workshops, and 10 design education series with an estimated value of services well over $300,000

In 2012, Storefront partnered with mOb studiO (short for “Middle of Broad”), an interdisciplinary, service-learning design lab consisting of three VCUarts design departments: fashion, graphic, and interior design. The studio provides the opportunity for up to 30 students to participate during the semester. After joining forces, we moved our office to the Art & Cultural District at 205 E. Broad Street creating a collaborative workspace with mOb studiO. Since our conjunction, we continue to administer our community design and civic advocacy programs from this space and open our doors every First Friday to showcase design, process, and community engagement work as part of the Arts & Cultural District’s Art Walk where more than 8,000 people have visited our storefront.

image: mOb studiO; Final poster project to educate community members on the benefits of a food forest

2014-2017

In July 2014, we were named “Best of Richmond” in the categories of Urban Planning and Community Development by Richmond Magazine. At that time, we also embarked in a three-year partnership with Richmond Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA) and mOb studiO to co-create and destigmatize mental illness through our Recovery by Design program. After a successful first year, we received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to continue engaging in “making” with over 90 participants recovering from addiction, intellectual disabilities, and mental illness. Through pre- and post-interviews, we learned that participants showed improvements in sociability and expressed general excitement in skill building.

While our clients are Richmonders, we are part of a larger national movement of community design. In 2015, we hosted the Association for Community Design’s national conference, drawing more than 175 attendees from 18 major cities where we had the opportunity to talk with our national neighbors as well as our next door neighbors in the heart of Richmond’s Art & Cultural District.

In our early years, we began focusing on community organizing in Northside’s Highland Park neighborhood where we built on six years of engagement efforts as part of the Highland Park Quality of Life development and implementation plan. A major request of the quality of life planning process was to strengthen the neighborhood youth. With this in mind, Storefront led the idea of the Six Points Innovation Center (6PIC), a teen serving, non-profit collaborative in Highland Park.

In 2016, Storefront received funding through the Robins Foundation Community Innovation Grant to open 6PIC in partnership with four non-profits including Art 180, Groundwork RVA, Saving Our Youth Virginia, and Untold RVA. After additional fundraising, design, and build-out of the space, 6PIC opened in June 2017 providing a resource and engagement outlet that serves an average of 20 youth per day while providing a space for Storefront’s presence in the Northside. Since opening, 6PIC continues to be an evolving partnership between Storefront, Groundwork RVA, Saving Our Youth Virginia, ART 180, Boaz & Ruth, Community 50/50, Untold RVA, the Association of Black Social Workers (ABSW), RVA Rapid Transit, Virginia LISC, Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC), the Highland park Quality of Life Team, and Richmond Public High School students.

image: Youth Innovation programming at Six Points Innovation Center (6PIC)

Since 2000, the Golden Hammer Awards have honored excellence in neighborhood revitalization projects throughout greater Richmond. In 2017, the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods (ACORN) disbanded and Storefront (with the support from Better Housing Coalition) and Historic Richmond partnered to administer and co-host the Golden Hammer Awards and gearing up for our fifth year of successfully highlighting excellence in our communities.

2018-2020

In 2018, 6PIC partners completed a strategic planning and evaluation process to define how the layered, integrated services of multiple non-profits can overlap and intentionally improve equity and health in the community. This launched the City Builders program with support from Richmond Memorial Health Foundation and Capital One. The vision of City Builders realizes 6PIC’s mission of growing urban youth leaders and advances civic power for Northside residents through place-making projects and neighborhood-based skill building in program areas offered by 6PIC partners.

In 2019, Storefront and mOb studiO hosted a nationwide architecture and youth competition funded by the NEA Artworks to consider how to re-present the history and figures monumentalized on Monument Avenue. The competition, called Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion, asked participants to reconsider Monument Avenue through its role as a historic urban boulevard, its viability as a 5.4-mile interurban connector, its presence in Richmond given the city’s emergence as a diverse and progressive city, its significance in the history of the United States, and the debate about Confederate statues in public spaces. The exhibition of competition finalists opened on February 14, 2019 at the Valentine Museum.

image: Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion Exhibition at the Valentine Museum

In late fall 2019, Storefront’s Board of Directors and staff engaged in a workshop to help shape and guide the Strategic Planning process and the future of Storefront programming. Key partners and stakeholders throughout the community were involved to develop a plan that represented the transition from idea-rich conversations to a strategy that would strengthen the organization and hone our impact in the future. The Board for Directors and staff have used this document to begin program implementation and plan for future staffing and operations.

2021: Here’s to Ten More Years!

In early 2021, Storefront announced the selection of our new Executive Director and Center Director making this an ideal moment to reflect upon the progress we’ve made to assist in creating more equitable communities and establish a vision moving forward; an opportunity to discover how we can better align and advocate to the current needs of our communities and future development trends around the City of Richmond. Planning has begun on the following goals and we look forward to working with you to realize our vision in the coming years.

• Craft Storefront’s brand messaging to engage individuals unfamiliar with our purpose

• Build on the successes of our Design Session program by increasing opportunities for low-cost design assistance

• Develop an innovative community engagement methodology for Storefront programming and to share with community members

• Increase the Youth Innovation Studio through robust curriculum development and innovative design programming

• Develop new resources and toolkits to share with neighbors around the city

Let’s get to work!
Press Release

Design Session, Spring 2019

Here is a recap of some recent projects that we have been working on this spring:

Holly Street Park + Oregon Hill Park system

We have been working with a designer to imagine some alternative solutions for the Oregon Hill Parks, specifically Holly Street Park. However, we wanted to hear from the community first. We will be releasing a report from our presentation at the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) last Tuesday evening.

A spread from the initially proposed concept plan.

RVA Steaks N More

A concept for a proposed breakfast spot in Highland Park called RVA Steaks N More

RVA Steaks N More requested design assistance in setting up their take out steak shop in Highland Park on Meadowbridge Road. Their motivation is to provide delicious cooked to order meals at economical prices and one hundred percent customer service.

Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion Exhibition To Open February 14

A new exhibition debuting on Valentine’s Day will conceptually reimagine Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue. Opening at the Valentine on February 14, this exhibition follows the Valentine’s Monumental: Richmond’s Monuments (1607-2018), which examined the role and context of more than 40 monuments in and around the city.

Titled Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion, this new exhibition is the result of a multi-year collaboration with the Storefront for Community Design and the mOb studiO at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts.

“In keeping with our mission, the Valentine listened to the debate taking place in the wider Richmond community concerning monuments and what they mean to us today, and we responded with Monumental,” said Valentine Director Bill Martin. “We are excited to take this concept of important and timely community conversations a step further by hosting an exhibition that asks us to question the future of Monument Avenue.”

Last year, the Valentine, Storefront and VCUarts mOb studiO applied for and received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to host an international design competition, which invited teams of planners, architects, designers, artists and individuals to conceptually re-imagine Monument Avenue.

“We received 70 proposals from architectural firms, centers of higher education, artists and many others,” said Camden Whitehead, mOb studiO co-founder and an associate professor of interior design at VCUarts. “We hope that the diverse ideas on display in this exhibition at the Valentine will demonstrate the unique power of design to serve as a catalyst for community discussion and contribute to the important dialogue about race, memory, the urban landscape and public art.”

Submitted concepts will be featured in the exhibition at the Valentine. A jury will also review the submissions and select finalists. The winning concepts, including a People’s Choice Award, will be announced on November 21 at a closing reception hosted at the Valentine.

As part of related programming, exhibition organizers are in the process of planning two community conversation events.

Additionally, from February 16 to April 20, the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design will host the results of a similar design competition specifically for Richmond students in an exhibition titled Monumental Youth.

“The Branch Museum is excited to have the Monumental Youth exhibition in our galleries, as it gives a voice to young people tackling large design ideas in thoughtful and exciting ways,” said Branch Museum Executive Director Penny Fletcher. “In addition, it addresses a pressing design challenge confronting our community and many others – how can we make public spaces, designed a century or more ago, relevant and accessible today? We are proud to be showcasing this important and contemplative work from students in and around Richmond. The Branch Museum is dedicated to bringing exciting and challenging design thinking to our community, and the students represented in this exhibition have done that beautifully.”

Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion closes at the Valentine on December 1, 2019.

Finalists will be notified on the opening day of the exhibition at the Valentine.

You can read more about the exhibition and competition on our feature on NextCity.

Golden Hammer Awards 2018

Historic Richmond + Storefront for Community Design will co-host the Golden Hammer
Awards for the second year on Thursday, November 1, 2018 at the historic Monumental Church. Call for submissions will close September 15.

Historic Richmond Executive Director Cyane Crump said, “As Richmond-area nonprofits with interests in historic preservation and neighborhood revitalization, we are delighted to co-present the awards to recognize professionals working in neighborhood revitalization, blight reduction and historic preservation in the Richmond region.” Projects completed after January 1, 2017 located in the greater Richmond area (City of Richmond, Counties of Chesterfield, Hanover, and Henrico) will be considered for the categories of: Best Restoration, Best Adaptive Reuse, Best New Construction, Best Placemaking and a new category Best Residential focusing on single-family projects.

“With over 45 submissions last year, we are excited to see which projects in the area will be nominated,” said Ryan Rinn, Executive Director of Storefront for Community Design. “Teamwork and partnerships have always been critical to preservation and placemaking in Richmond and we look forward to another year of high quality submissions.”

We are open for submissions and the portal will close September 15, 2018 at midnight. Applications for the 2018 Golden Hammer Awards can be submitted through Historic Richmond's website.

Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion

Updated July 3, 2018:

Storefront is proud to be recognized for the Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion Design Competition in the Monument Avenue Commission's Report to Mayor Stoney about the re-contextualization of the statues on Monument Avenue. You can find a copy of the report here. 

And, check out the story about Richmond, the Confederate Monuments on Monument Avenue, and the Commission's reccommendation on NPR's Weekend Edition from July 8th.

Recent national events provide an opportunity to re-examine the role of Confederate statuary in the public realm. Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion is an international design ideas competition, aiming to contribute to this important dialogue by inviting architects, planners, designers, artists, and individuals to reimagine the entire 5.4 mile length of Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, one of America’s grandest boulevards. Local Richmond organizations including The Storefront for Community Design + the mObstudiO at VCUarts will administer the international competition, a concurrent local high school competition, and community workshops and conversations. Monument Avenue provides a unique opportunity to enrich the conversation about race, memory, the urban landscape and public art. Competition registration is now open and remains open until September 15, 2018 with submissions due on December 1, 2018. The Valentine (https://thevalentine.org/), a history museum in Richmond, will host an exhibition of entries opening on February 14, 2019.

For more information, contact or visit:
monument@storefrontrichmond.org
www.monumentavenuegdgd.com

You can register for the competition at www.monumentavenuegdgd.com/national/submit

Please share this announcement widely with students, colleagues, firms, studios, community organizations, and anyone else who might be interested.

Storefront in the Community with Friends of Forest Hill Park

Friends of Forest Hill Park
Forest Hill Park contains a couple historic buildings in need of roof repairs. These are the Old Stone House and stables in the the park. Storefront will help direct the conversation within the community to make sure that all facets of these historic sites are told.

The Old Stone House in Forest Hill Park.

If you think you might be interested in these projects, give us a shout at hello@storefrontrichmond.org

Six Points Innovation Center Opens

We want to give a huge thank you to everyone who came out to the Grand Opening of the Six Points Innovation Center! This is an exciting time for the Highland Park neighborhood and for all of us, so it was great to share that with so many warm, smiling faces!

Here's just a sampling of what's happening over the summer:

• Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Training

• Empowered for Life Class- 4 Day job readiness program

• Gender Neutral Bathroom Mosaic Curated by I Am My Life

• Green Team Energy Audit -Assessment to create 6PIC sustainability plan

• Changemakers Mural Project

• Urban Agriculture Corps Various Site Projects

• Groundwork RVA/ Bus Rapid Transit - Teaching young people to ride bus rapid transit!

Highland Park Spring Break 2017

On Saturday April 29th, Highland Park residents joined us for the Highland Park Spring Break Event. The event featured 8 different non-profit organizations working within the community. The goal was to engage with community members about how they might envision the growth of their neighborhood, to describe the resources these organizations offered, and most importantly to eat, dance, and perform in the talent show. 

At least 100 people showed up to dance, hear about the Storefront for Community Design, Groundwork RVA, Saving Our Youth, the CPDC, LISC, and Tricycle Gardens. On display in the 6PIC space were plans for architectural plans for local business improvements that community members voted on. The day was unusually hot but that didn't stop the talent show from continuing!

spring at mOb

What has been going on at mOb recently? Read on for a quick rundown of the activity at the studio this semester.

We started off the semester with a quick design competition amongst the students to redesign the Golden Hammer Award. The Golden Hammer Awards are a recognition of excellence in neighborhood revitalization projects in the Greater Richmond Area. Learn more about the awards next week. 

The students then began working in teams on 11 projects throughout the semester. 

Last Saturday, students headed to Greensville County to clean up the site of an old Rosenwald School, the Greensville County Training School. The interdisciplinary team of students has been working on an identity for the new space, a plan for its repurposing, and a series of brochures and on site graphics to raise awareness.

Another team of students is working with the Richmond Volleyball Club to make their graphics speak to a new, younger demographics. 

The Minority AIDS Support Services group is working to create a comfortable, discrete space in their offices in Hampton, VA, where community members can get tested for HIV and feel supported and comfortable around other clients the non-profit serves. They are exploring interior design solutions for a shared waiting room space. 

A team of students is working for another semester with Brooks Diner in Northside to redesign their exterior sign and offer solutions for a patio while yet another group of students is helping to redesign the look of the Afrikana Film Festival. A smaller, yet fastidious nonetheless, student team is working with the VCU Police downtown to design spatial solutions to make the entrance to new offices on Broad St more abiding and in turn, help them fulfill their mission of becoming better neighbors in downtown Richmond. 

Stay tuned for final solutions and mark your calendars for our First Friday opening next month!