The city of Danville plans to purchase almost seven acres of land along the Dan River and along Memorial Drive from the city’s Industrial Development Authority for the development of a whitewater channel project, one of many planned or ongoing riverfront projects in the city.
The IDA will consider approving the sale at its regular meeting at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Danville received a grant from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to purchase and develop a whitewater channel, according to the staff report in the meeting’s agenda packet. It plans to purchase the 6.87-acre parcel for $1.2 million, plus closing costs.
The channel is expected to be both a source of recreation and a first-responder training facility.
The city has undertaken several riverfront projects recently, in an effort to capitalize on its stretch of the Dan River to enhance quality of life and boost economic growth.
Dan River Falls, a rehabilitated former textile mill on the river, and an adjacent riverfront park are in various stages of completion. The whitewater channel is expected to run in front of Dan River Falls and will be the third project in this effort.
The channel, though it won’t be completed for several years, is expected to be about 2,000 feet long. It will be created from the remaining historic Danville Canal, a site that was recently approved for a state highway marker by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
The IDA bought this parcel in 2017 from a demolition company, which had owned the property since 2009, according to the Danville GIS. Before that, it was owned by Dan River Properties, part of the textile company that was the city’s main economic driver for decades.
It’s not unusual that the city is buying this property from its IDA. About a decade ago, the Danville IDA bought up dozens of properties in the River District, in an effort to revitalize the area by marketing them to buyers and developers.
This effort has been largely successful, with the River District seeing residential and commercial growth over the years. The IDA still owns a handful of properties throughout the city, including the riverfront parcel that’s slated for the whitewater channel.
It’s too early for a ballpark timeline on the whitewater channel’s completion, but construction will take between 18 and 24 months once it begins, said Andrew Hall, project manager with the city’s parks and recreation department, in a 2024 interview.
Also this week in Danville, the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facilities Authority will meet Monday at noon, the planning commission will meet at 2 p.m. Monday, the airport commission will meet at 3 p.m. Tuesday, the transportation advisory committee will meet at noon Wednesday, and the River District design commission will meet at 4 p.m. Thursday.
In Pittsylvania County, the library board will meet at 3 p.m. Monday. The county board of zoning appeals meeting scheduled for Monday has been canceled.
