Uneven Restoration in Jackson Ward by b1bob
This is not a fond memory, but rather a potential opportunity. Jackson Ward is more like Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. "It was the best of times..." (Maggie Walker House, the wrought iron porches on Leigh Street, and popular tourist spots). "It was the worst of times..." The Elk's Lodge, 526 N. 2nd St., is an impressive structure that has seen better days. It was built about 1905 as the 26-room mansion of the Reverend W.L. Taylor, a leader in the United Order of True Reformers, a temperance organization. One of the first buildings in Virginia designed by a professional black architect, J.A. Lankford, it was one of the largest buildings in Virginia, possibly in the country, built for a black man.
The Hippodrome Theater right nextdoor is now missing its famed marquee, is currently being restored that may one day return it to its glory days (from the late 1920s to the 1940s and somewhat beyond). It was one of three performance sites that gave Jackson Ward its nickname, the Harlem of the South. Many black entertainers built their reputations here, including local legend Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole and James Brown.
The nearby convention centre presents a problem and an opportunity at the same time. The problem is that development encroaches on the historic neighbourhood. However, designation by many buildings as a historic area will limit this dubious progress. Also, with new development comes the possibility of more tourism that will come when delapidated older buildings like the two pictured here get revitalised. However, restoration in this community moves on at an uneven pace.
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