Theater, textile mill, bank projects get state funding for restoration

Update, 12:30 p.m. Aug. 14: This story has been updated to include details of the project in Pamplin and a response from Del. Will Morefield.

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Sharon Thomas and her husband, John Thomas, have been working to transform a former movie theater building in the town of Tazewell into a modern, three-screen cinema since they bought the property in 2019.

She was happily surprised Monday to learn that their project — delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic — is getting a boost in the form of $399,000 in Industrial Revitalization Funds through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, or DHCD.

“Construction costs have increased so much since COVID, we would not have been able to complete the project desired without the grant from DHCD,” Sharon Thomas said.

The project was one of three chosen to receive a total of nearly $1.9 million of the state money, which goes toward redevelopment of vacant and deteriorated industrial and commercial properties. The other projects are in Rockbridge County and the town of Pamplin.

The grants were announced Monday by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who said the three projects will create more than 25 jobs and leverage an additional $2.5 million in private investment. The money will require a local match.

“These remarkable projects will breathe new life into dilapidated structures that have been obstacles to economic growth, transforming them into sources of jobs, tourism and community pride,” Youngkin said in a news release. “IRF funding allows us to make holistic investments in our infrastructure that will directly benefit our communities while energizing our regional development efforts.”

The movie theater on Dunford Drive is expected to create three full-time and 10 part-time jobs, and the plan is to open within six months, according to Sharon Thomas. The couple also owns the Grant shopping center next door, she said.

The original movie theater opened in 1972 and closed in 2018 because the previous owner didn’t have the money to change from analog to digital, she said, adding that the projectors for the three screens alone cost more than $100,000.

The Thomases bought the building from the town’s industrial/economic development authority in 2019 and have been working on it ever since.

The first thing the couple had to do to the building was to abate some asbestos and divert water from seven natural springs that was coming into the building. They also worked on the deteriorating cinder block walls.

Just when they got the interior walls stripped down, COVID hit. Part-time renovations resumed in July 2022, and in the fourth quarter of 2023, they started major repairs, including rewiring, adding two new heat pumps, repairing the roof, making the bathrooms compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and installing new plumbing.

The interior has been gutted, the chairs and old screen removed. A number of repairs remain, including new ceilings, wall coverings, flooring and bathroom fixtures. The IRF funding must be used on the building, she said.

She thanked a number of town officials, the state housing department and state Del. Will Morefield, R-Tazewell County, for their help in bringing “jobs, entertainment, and a sense of community revitalization to Tazewell.”

Morefield said the new theater “will provide entertainment for a community that has been without a theater for several years. Inflation has left many local families in the community with limited options for entertainment and this project will provide options and add value to the town’s tourism assets.”

He added that the town was close to becoming a “ghost town” before the opening of the Back of the Dragon Welcome Center. Today, the town draws thousands of motorcycles and sports cars throughout the year, the delegate said.

In the small town of Goshen in Rockbridge County, the project known as the Stillwater revitalization will receive the largest amount, $1 million, in IRF money. The project will bring life back to a vacant building that once housed the Stillwater Worsted Mills textile plant.

The plan is for the 120,000-square-foot building to serve several purposes, including as a headquarters for the nonprofit Virginia Mechanical Preservation Society, or VMPS, plus house a transportation museum, a restoration workshop and a gift shop and café.

VMPS was established in 2023 to promote scenic rail tourism and organize historic-themed events. The plan is for the museum and restoration headquarters to boost tourism by allowing visitors to witness the restoration of rare historic artifacts. Exhibits will include railway equipment, military vehicles, steam engines, agricultural equipment, automobiles, horse-drawn carriages and vintage amusement park rides, according to a summary of the project included in the grant application.

North Fork Lumber, in Goshen, will also expand into a portion of the building, which will provide space for its dry kiln lumber operations. It will also provide needed storage space for lumber and for processing end-use products, said North Fork co-owner Lee Harris.

He added that the expansion is expected to create five to 10 jobs — and possibly more, depending on how many the labor force can support.

One of the company’s biggest problems has been hiring workers because when the textile plant closed, most people left the town, Harris said. In 2022, the town had just 336 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the project summary, the building has been vacant for more than 20 years and has fallen into significant disrepair. Its restoration and equipment upgrades are expected to cost a total of $2.11 million.

Brandy Flint, director of economic development for Rockbridge County, said the IRF award will be “transformative” for the Goshen area.

“We are really excited to see this building be revitalized and it’s going to be a wonderful opportunity for the town of Goshen, which is within Rockbridge County,” she said.

A grant of $500,000 will go to the ARCH Foundation for a bank renovation project in the town of Pamplin, which is in Appomattox and Prince Edward counties.

The town will partner with the foundation to renovate the building in downtown Pamplin that has been vacant for 25 years into an event space and wedding venue, according to Alexis Mehretab, public relations director for the state housing department.

The plan is to also add two residential units on the building’s second floor, she added.

The project is expected to create at least five new jobs, she said.

Since 2012, the IRF program has funded 73 projects that have revitalized vacant, blighted buildings, according to a news release from the state housing department. The projects have generated more than $277 million in additional public and private investment and resulted in the creation of more than 1,500 jobs across Virginia, the release states.

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