Petition Tag - hopewell

What comes to mind when you think of Downtown Hopewell? It may not be the most euphoric or happy thought. For some time, economic activity in the downtown Hopewell area has continued to stagnate. With its unique historical and cultural attributes, Hopewell has the potential to be a vibrant community.

The Hopewell Downtown Partnership (HDP) is an organization that will partner with local government, existing community and business organizations, as well as our richly diverse community at large, to develop and implement a program for a healthy, vibrant, and prosperous central downtown district. This program will entail new retail shopping, improvements to existing businesses, casual and fine dining restaurants, and entertainment for citizens of all ages.

The HDP will partner with the Virginia Main Street program which has a proven track record of successful downtown revitalizations in cities throughout Virginia. From 2005 to 2009 Virginia Main Street has been able to assist in the creation of almost 5,000 new jobs, 1,500 new businesses, 1,600 rehabilitation projects and has logged over 361,000 volunteer hours.

In addition, for every $1 invested it has seen a return of $22.25 for all investment and $15.01 for private investment.

We need community support to let our city council know that the citizens of Hopewell care about their downtown community and would like to see it brought back to life. We have a special opportunity at this time to ask city council to approve in its budget, specific funding for an organization that will do just that. With the support of the Main Street foundation, our own community and government, we are confident that measurable positive changes can be made within our downtown community.

View petition

Fort Ancient features 18,000 feet of earthen walls built 2,000 years ago by American Indians, the Hopewell. The Hopewell used the shoulder blades of deer, split elk antlers, clam shell hoes and digging sticks to dig the dirt. Then, carried the soil in baskets holding up to 40 pounds. In conjunction with the sun and the moon portions of the earthen wall provide a calendar system for the Hopewell.

Because of its significance, Fort Ancient was purchased by the state of Ohio in 1891 and became Ohio's first state park. n addition, this is part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, one of 14 sites nominated in January 2008 by the Department of Interior for potential submission by the United States to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

View petition

The First Baptist Church of Mandarin wants to build some new facilities on Roberts Road in St. Johns County. It would be about a half mile from Cunningham Creek Elementary School. The development would comprise 31.75 acres and have over 1,100 parking spaces.

The project would include a 72,000 square foot sanctuary, a 44,000 square foot administration building, a teen center, a conference center, and a 25,000 square foot business center. Totaling over 240,000 square feet.

Residents of communities on Roberts Road are concerned with traffic, urban sprawl, drainage, noise and overall compatibility of the development.

View petition