Framework for the Future 2030

Historic Preservation Goals, Policies, Strategies and Implementation Actions

The long-range Historic Preservation goals are:

• Define, preserve, and enhance the City's history to promote community identity, and civic pride for residents and visitors.
• Integrate the preservation of cultural resources with positive and harmonious economic growth.
• Make the City of Newport News a tourist destination, utilizing our City's historic resources.  Develop and implement comprehensive city policies and strategies to develop a dominant history-based tourism economy in Newport News by 2030.  Implement short-term strategies by 2008.
• Promote and encourage academic studies of the history and historical influence of Newport News including student (graduate, college, and high school) scholarly research, publications of historical papers and articles, education of K-12 students, recommended courses of instruction for Virginia colleges and universities, and focused educational programs for regional adults and tourists.

The Framework for the Future sets forth the following goals, policies, strategies, and implementation for Historic Preservation:

Strategy 1.1.1: Amend the City Code to create a Landmark Preservation Commission with the necessary powers to protect the City's cultural, historical, and archeological resources.

Strategy 1.1.2: Conduct and compile a comprehensive inventory of key city historic buildings and land.  List potential uses and preservations steps required.

Strategy 1.2.1: Inventory and evaluate the City's cultural resources based on identified study units and recommend resources with potential to be designated as historic districts, sites, buildings or structures.

Strategy 1.2.2: Establish criteria for local landmark status based on the National Register of Historic Places guidelines with the focus on Newport News history.

IMPLEMENTATION 1.2:

1.2.1: Apply for historic preservation grant funding and make it a staff priority to conduct a comprehensive inventory and evaluation.

1.2.2: Specifically include in the inventory and evaluation the block of Jefferson Avenue between 25th and 26th Streets, the Lee Hall Village area, Lee Hall Mansion, Endview Plantation, historic churches, and Civil War earthworks.

1.2.3: Document and designate the Downtown area bounded by West Avenue, the James River, the southern half of 33rd Street to the northern half of 31st Street and the middle of the block between 24th and 25th Streets, including the Victory Arch, but excluding the proposed Victory Landing site, and identify it as the "Casino Park Historic District". 

1.2.4: With the Navy, shipyard and the Mariner's Museum, initiate a program to fund the raising of Civil War era ships, USS Monitor, CSS Florida, and USS Cumberland for the creation of a tourism attraction at the Victory Landing site.

Strategy 1.3.1: Based on the cultural resources inventory, identify priority resources, and research and recommend which should be protected by purchase, regulation or other means.

Strategy 1.3.2: Develop a long-term financial strategy for managing the City's cultural resources including public and private funding, taxes, and other incentives.

Strategy 1.3.3: Create operating plans to provide specific recommendations for prioritizing and treatment of property types for each study unit.

Strategy 1.3.4: Develop methods which allow for timely evaluation of threatened properties.

Strategy 1.3.5: Develop a historic preservation restoration program for additional threatened sites.

Strategy 1.3.6: Study and establish legal methods to require historic preservation of structures and sites deemed significant to the community.

Strategy 1.3.7: Seek additional partnerships to support historic preservation.

IMPLEMENTATION 1.3:

1.3.1: Formulate research, conserve/preserve and interpret objectives relevant to the City's cultural resources identified in the study units.

1.3.2: Develop a historic preservation trust program to fund the purchase and preservation of historic structures and sites.

1.3.3: Provide incentives to owners who maintain and restore their historic structures.

1.3.4: Prepare and adopt a historic preservation ordinance that requires the creation of a historic preservation review function for the Landmark Preservation Commission.

1.3.5: Authorize the Newport News Landmark Preservation Commission to review and approve all exterior changes to designated historic structures and demolition of structures or new construction in designated historic districts or sites not under the jurisdiction of the independent historic district architectural review boards.

1.3.6: Continue efforts to preserve, restore, and interpret historic buildings and cultural landscape at Endview Plantation and Lee Hall Mansion. 

1.3.7: Develop a "Know your House" program to educate citizens about the history of their homes.

1.3.8: Integrate and connect the historic resources at Endview Plantation and Lee Hall Mansion with Newport News Park's Civil War resources (Wynne's Mill Earthworks and Dam #1 Battlefield along with Lee’s Mill, and Skiffes Creek Civil War sites to create a tour experience that connects the Civil War sites in the Lee Hall region with Fort Monroe, Mariners’ Museum, Yorktown, and the Williamsburg Battlefield.

Strategy 1.4.1: Create thematic interpretive programs and self-guided tours to interpret the City's history using the network of historic sites, districts, buildings, and other cultural resources identified in the study units.

Strategy 1.4.2: Initiate a cooperative effort between the proposed Newport News Landmark Preservation Commission, and the Newport News Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism to develop methods for preparing and disseminating information to the residents and visitors.

IMPLEMENTATION 1.4:

1.4.1: Prepare and install appropriate interpretive signs for designated historic structures and sites.

1.4.2: Create publications, posters, and brochures promoting historical resources, and driving tours guiding travelers to sites.

1.4.3: Produce documentaries, and brief historical infomercials promoting historical events and sites.

1.4.4: Produce short video clips of historic sites on the City’s website.

Strategy 1.5.1: Transform Queen’s Hith into a Historic Park.  This is a twenty-nine (29) acre park.  This area has colonial connection and civil war connection.  In addition, it is located on Skiffs Creek which makes it a beautiful site.

Strategy 2.1.1: Discourage the further demolition of historic buildings and structures by encouraging their adaptive use and renovation.

Strategy 2.1.2: Develop a plan for the excavation and preservation of Warwick Town.

Strategy 2.1.3: Re-construct 1810 Clerk’s Office at Warwick C.H.  This cluster of buildings will be reconstructed to be the headquarters for the Tidewater Office of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Strategy 2.1.4: Construct 1899 jail building at Warwick C.H.

Strategy 2.1.5: Improve landscape preservation at Young’s Mill to include acquisition and preservation of Confederate earthworks south of the Mill.

Strategy 2.1.6: Acquire Smith Hotel site across from the Warwick C.H.  The current site is wooded and would be preserved for its archeological impact.

Strategy 2.1.7: Expand efforts to preserve, restore and interpret historic buildings and cultural landscape at Endview Plantation and Lee Hall Mansion. Increase the site of the historic park at Endview to include the cultural landscape and re-enactment fields.

Strategy 2.1.8: Conduct and compile a comprehensive inventory of key city historic buildings and land.  List potential uses and preservations steps required.

Strategy 2.1.9: Complete creation of Newsome Square.

IMPLEMENTATION 2.1:

2.1.1: In accordance with the adopted Lee Hall Area Plan, encourage the restoration and the adaptive reuse of the Lee Hall Depot as part of a mixed use village.   The restoration of Lee Hall Depot could provide an adaptive reuse of the station as a museum to study the peninsula’s transportation history, as well as a center for model railroad collecting.

2.1.2: In accordance with the adopted Lee Hall Area Plan encourage the continued restoration and interpretation of the Lee Hall mansion, archeological surveys and, seek preservation of the plantation house, the cultural landscape, and interpretive buildings of Endview Plantation.

2.1.3: Preserve the waterfront of Menchville as a waterman’s living history area.

2.1.4: Protect and preserve King/Lincoln Park in accordance with the Hampton Roads Waterfront Parks Plan.

2.1.5: Expedite the continued preservation, restoration, and interpretation of historic buildings, archaeological sites, and cultural landscapes.

2.1.6: Create an Historic District for Lee Hall Village.

2.1.7: Finalize Garden Club of Virginia Lee Hall Mansion landscape restoration work.  Lee Hall Mansion is one of fifty (50) sites recognized by this group in the State of Virginia.

2.1.8: Re-create Endview’s 19th Century agrarian landscape. 

2.1.9: Re-construct Endview Plantation outbuildings.

Strategy 3.1.1: Develop brochures that highlight the historic sites in the City, and include scheduled activities, and events.

Strategy 3.1.2: Advertise using different media, such as, radio, television, the Internet, and newspapers. (WHRO/PBS, publications, radio interviews, city channel, websites, newspaper feature articles)

Strategy 3.1.3: Encourage regional tourism efforts with Yorktown, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and the City of Hampton.

Strategy 3.1.4: Advertise regionally and nationally regarding the historic resources of Newport News.

Strategy 3.1.5: Encourage authors of novels and children's stories to use Newport News ' sites as settings in their creations.

Strategy 3.1.6: Produce documentaries, and historical infomercials promoting Newport News historical sites.

Strategy 3.1.7: The Victory Arch is a very important symbol of the nation’s military history.  This is where Christopher Newport landed in 1607, this is the site of the Newport Plantation, this is where the U.S.S. Cumberland battle took place, and where Collis P. Huntington created the city of Newport News.  All of these events are to be commemorated as part of the Victory Landing Park.  Enhance historical interpretation at VictoryLanding Park.

IMPLEMENTATION 3.1

3.1.1: Create satellite tourist centers throughout the City. 

3.1.2: Create a naval museum featuring Newport News Shipbuilding and Civil War Ships at Victory Landing that complements the Mariners’ Museum‘s Monitor Center.  Enhance the historic interpretation at Victory Landing Park. 

3.1.3: Create or select a site for a museum devoted totally to the history of the City of Newport News.

Strategy 4.1.1: Develop educational brochures that highlight the historic sites.

IMPLEMENTATION 4.1:

4.1.1: Provide brochures to all school children K-12 using the school distribution system.

4.1.2: Present interactive hands-on programs to Newport News students reinforcing SOL requirements.

4.1.3: Produce on-line and DVD place-based classroom learning opportunities reinforcing SOL requirements.

4.1.4: Prepare teacher training programs highlighting interpretative classroom techniques and museum resources.

4.1.5: Partner each city historic resource with a nearby school.

4.1.6: Provide participatory archaeological credit programs for AP students.