Stoney could provide update on billboard controversy this week

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The City of Richmond is in the middle of a months-long battle with Lamar Advertising, the owner of a billboard which sits on the side of Interstate 64 over a vacant gas station and the resting place of freed and enslaved African Americans on Shockoe Hill — but the battle could end as soon as this week.

The gas station on the property is closed and has been painted to memorialize the burying ground, but the two-sided billboard is blank and an eyesore for Richmonders — some of whom think it is disrespectful to those buried there.

“The billboard should not be in use any further, moving forward into the future,” Mayor Stoney said at a press conference earlier this month. “Conversations have been held, but a resolution has not been had.”

The billboard has displayed several advertisements during its nearly 20 years on the sacred ground — including from a liquor company, the University of Richmond, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s campaign and an ad for Lamar itself.

In the past, Lamar has offered to take down the billboard in exchange for six more billboards across the city. But Mayor Stoney has refused this on multiple occasions.

“I said that the last time — unwilling,” he said about his sentiments towards Lamar’s offer.

Stoney said the billboard is set deep in the ground, so if it were to be removed, it would need to be done very carefully so as to not disturb the graves.

“Souls are resting there at the moment, and we want to avoid any sort of disturbance,” he said.

Stoney said he wants to keep talks with Lamar private until its acceptable to tell the public, but said that, from what he has seen, nothing has been acceptable. Lamar Advertising did not respond to a request for comment.

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