Suffolk provides Downtown Progress Report

The City of Suffolk recently provided a report to their Downtown revitalization efforts.

Held at the Suffolk Center of Cultural Arts on Thursday, Sept. 29, Mayor Michael Duman highlighted achievements the city has seen in their Downtown Master Plan, established in 2018. Various projects were highlighted, including the Elliott Hotel revitalized as a 45 luxury loft apartments, Downtown Festival Park, which will feature concerts, movie nights, a putt putt mini-golf course and an ice skating rink, ongoing Downtown beautification efforts and more.

Duman highlighted the trademark logo for Downtown Suffolk.

“This logo is perfect, it nods to our history with the year 1742. The peanut acknowledges what makes us unique and the message is clean and simple,” Duman said. “We wanted people to know that Downtown Suffolk is open. We’re open for business, open to cultures, open to visitors and open to diverse ideas, people and energy.”

Plans to repair Phoenix Bank, revitalization efforts for the former SunTrust building and the ongoing building of Suffolk Central Library were also highlighted as well as the establishment of the Suffolk Downtown Advisory Committee, aiming to “serve as a platform for community members, local businesses and stakeholders to provide input and feedback on the implementation of the Downtown Master Plan.” Following the report, Deputy City Manager Kevin Hughes had a chance to comment on the event.

“So I think the folks that came out are very interested in Downtown and where the future’s going and they want to be a part of it, and that was really part of the thinking,” Hughes said. “We want to celebrate our wins and get more and more participation to come up with new ideas, new projects. We still have some things yet to do on our Master Plan, but we want to continue to build some spirit and make sure that we’re bringing as many people along for the journey.”

Hughes discussed some upcoming projects, noting Festival Park still being finalized with Dominion Energy to bring over power.

“So you’ll continue to see improvements along the way with a slate of events this fall and winter, so we’re excited about being 100% done with that,” Hughes said. “…and then we are under design for some parking improvements along Saratoga with some of the purchases that are now owned. So you’ll be seeing some parking improvements along the way. The one thing that I am really excited about that’s really fun is the former SunTrust building, we’re transforming it for events and we want people to walk in and be part of that project with us. They can be really a catalyst for fun and activity, and so we want to hear people’s ideas and ultimately, we want someone to help invest in that property. So those are big ones we are working on.”

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