Park Avenue isn’t what it used to be. The four-lane road along the west side of Ballou Park used to handle tractor trailers and cars going to and from Dan River Inc.’s massive Schoolfield mill complex.
Today on the south end of Park Avenue - at the top of the hill - the new CVS drug store is quickly taking shape.
On the north end of Park - at the bottom of the hill - the city is working with VDOT to come up with a more affordable version of the new Robertson Bridge.
In between, a mill salvage company is methodically deconstructing the industrial buildings that once defined Schoolfield.
What will happen in five or 10 years from now if - or more likely when - a developer wants to turn the former Schoolfield mill site into some new kind of development? Assuming that the new Robertson Bridge is built by then - and that could happen - that new development will be seen as an extension of the Piedmont Drive shopping district.
Will the developer of the Schoolfield mill complex wind up saying something like: “This has taken way too long. Life’s too short to haggle with the city of Danville?” Or will that developer get the kind of five-star treatment Coleman Marketplace has received?
Bet on the latter.
Anne Adcock of Foxglove Clothing wanted to move her business to 291 Park Ave., but gave up. She’s the person who complained about her rezoning request taking far too long and saying life was too short to haggle with the city.
The fairness argument says the city should treat a small local shop as well as a mega retailer, but in truth, national chain stores get far more attention and help because of their ability to substantially change the local economy. It’s not that the Foxgloves of the world are unimportant, it’s that the Targets of the world can make a much bigger difference.
But it appears the real issue here is the same one that’s been fought over since 291 Park Ave. was first built. Its neighbors don’t want anything there - and this time, it appears the city has allowed that to happen.
Park Avenue isn’t a residential street, it’s a connector road that divides a city park with the shell of a sprawling industrial site. When the mill buildings are ready for redevelopment, Danville will finally drive that point home to the Park Avenue residents who still think they live in a residential neighborhood.
It’s only a matter of time.
Foxglove would have been a good fit for Park Avenue. It would have been a much better neighbor than the mega-development that’s probably coming next.
When that happens, Danville probably won’t treat a mega-development at the Schoolfield mill site the way it treated Foxglove’s proposed move to Park Avenue.
