The Appomattox River flows past Hopewell to join the James River, right. After a history of environmental pollution, the city is working to capitalize on its restored waters. ((Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program))
The Appomattox River, lined by wetlands, provides Hopewell’s supply of drinking water.
Bailey’s Creek, once ground zero for industrial waste pollution, flows past the Hopewell Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility, now known as Hopewell Water Renewal, completed in 1977 and upgraded most recently in 2016 to treat additional nitrogen waste from industry. The plant has been funded by a combination of city, state and industry partners, and is unique in its ability to treat both residential and industrial waste. “We’re one of five or maybe 10 plants in the country that can do what we do,” said Jerry Byerly, director of Hopewell Water Renewal.
LEFT: Ban Rafey, a lifetime Hopewell resident, remembers the industrial smell that used to greet fresh visitors to the city. TOP RIGHT: Industrial facilities line the James River in Hopewell. BOTTOM RIGHT: Laboratory technician Reese Phillips conducts water quality tests at the plant. Phillips began as an apprentice while still a student at Hopewell High School, a program that the plant resumed after a hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
LEFT: Chris Shifflett fishes with his fiancee Chelsea Kaleita at City Park in Hopewell.. "He's actually disabled...so this is his, like, therapy," said Kaleita, who visits the river to fish just about every day with Shifflett and their two children. "It's a natural meditation for us; especially for him." TOP RIGHT: The Riverwalk currently spans 1,736 feet of Hopewell riverfront. MIDDLE RIGHT: A bumble bee visits blooming pickerelweed growing in wetlands along the Riverwalk. BOTTOM RIGHT: A red-bellied cooter visits the James River beneath the Riverwalk.
Wayne Walton, seen at City Park, is a lifelong resident of Hopewell who championed its rivers as a chair of FOLAR and a city council member. His initial volunteer efforts at City Park led to wider support from the city and organizations such as the Cameron Foundation and Randolph Foundation. “[I] probably ask forgiveness better than permission to do things, you know, to get it kicked off,” Walton said.
Johnny Partin, Hopewell’s vice mayor, stands along a restored section of Cabin Creek at Mathis Park. In addition to his official efforts to improve environmental assets in Hopewell, Partin has participated in over 100 cleanups and enjoys walks through Mathis Park and elsewhere in the city. “When I come out here walking myself, I've seen a handful of folks and they thoroughly enjoy it,” Partin said. “They love the green space out here, they love the environmental work that we're doing. They also love the fact that we're trying to put in more trails, more walking areas, and trying to protect some of our green space here in the city.”
A pileated woodpecker feeds its young in a dead tree, known as a snag, that provides habitat above the restored stream at Mathis Park.
Kaliah, 2, uses the slide while visiting Woodlawn Park with her twin sister Kali and mother Tia Curry and brother Nas, 3, in Hopewell, Va., on June 9, 2022. The family visits "just about every day" and getting the kids to leave is the hard part, Curry said. At the same time that the park received new trees from Hopewell Tree Stewards, the playground was updated to evoke the city's connection to the Appomattox and James rivers, according to former Hopewell mayor Jackie Shornak, who hopes a pollinator garden will be added in the future.
LEFT: Erin Kelley of Hopewell Tree Stewards stands where several young trees were planted at Riverside Park to help absorb stormwater runoff from a nearby paved area before it reaches a stream leading to the Appomattox River. Kelley received training from Tree Stewards when it was a grant-funded program of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, but now serves as leader of the independent nonprofit. In late April, the group hosted a Hopewell Family Arbor Day with over 200 attendees and 71 participating organizations, groups and businesses. “We have a lot of stormwater issues going on in the city of Hopewell,” said Kelley, who pointed out that trees do more than just soak up tens of thousands of gallons of water, like providing cooling shade to overheated city streets. “It saves power because it does that—makes it more beautiful, makes it more attractive to go to the park, so we planted a lot in our parks.” RIGHT: Stephanie Dayberry is a teacher at Woodlawn Elementary School, where Hopewell Tree Stewards and Hopewell Recreation and Parks planted a small orchard of edible trees—its first grant-based project as an independent organization.
Jasmine Gore, a former mayor and current council in Hopewell, worked with the city’s Director of Development and Planning on grants that spawned the One Hopewell Initiative. “Now we have a full emphasis on social determinants of health, looking at it through a covid lens and looking at how can we improve those stressors,” Gore said. “Education, job attainment, housing, transportation, child care, home ownership, your physical environment, crime in your environment—all those things impact your health.”
Jennifer Murphy-James, coordinator of the One Hopewell Initiative, stands outside of the city offices in Hopewell, Va., on July 22, 2022. One Hopewell is a grant-funded program that is focused on improving health equity by addressing social determinants of health such as access to healthy food, clean water and economic development. "[Hopewell and neighboring Petersburg] rank on the bottom for the state of Virginia in many, many areas, such as rates of diabetes, heart disease, obesity and also lifespan, " Murphy-James said. "And so one of the goals of the One Hopewell initiative is to look at policies...within the city and also policies within organizations that operate in the city.”
The Hopewell Downtown Partnership, which has collaborated with the One Hopewell Initiative, works to revitalize downtown areas like East Broadway by encouraging new businesses and increasing foot traffic. Among its efforts, the nonprofit has rehabilitated historic storefronts and organizes regular events, including a farmers market and street festivals during the summer months. TOP: Lifelong Hopewell resident Homer Eliades, 23, paints the storefront of Artisan Alley, a new business owned by his father and sister on East Broadway, near a new mural commissioned by the Hopewell Downtown Partnership through a grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Two local residents modeled for the mural, which depicts the James River and local wildlife. BOTTOM: Also on East Broadway, Hopewell Downtown Partnership helped secure a $387,000 grant from Virginia’s Industrial Revitalization Fund in 2014 to turn an empty furniture store into Guncotton Coffee shop and Art Gallery. The Hopewell Downtown Partnership has used Guncotton’s event space for its business pitch competition, which awarded $30,000 in 2022.
Drawn to the James River, Mikayla Moore carries her daughter Madison Friedline while visiting City Park in Hopewell, Va., on June 9, 2022. It was Moore's first time visiting the park, which is easily filled with visitors on a weekend evening with nice weather.
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Gorgeous photos!!
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