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Anything happening with the old Fulton Gas Works building?

Howdy neighbors! Just wanted to let you know of a piece I found on the richmond.gov site’s Public Utilities section!

At first glance, it looks like the Department of Public Utilities will be spearheading a project to redo the Fulton Gas Works building into a city building.

Photo from way back when…I don’t believe there’s barbed wire around the building these days.

“Among other goals, the project seeks to improve the aesthetics of the neighborhood by developing the site for city usage, thereby improving the visual appeal of the surrounding area. ” -richmond.gov

Here’s a link to the page.

Unfortunately however, the page seems a bit dated. Here’s another snippet from the page:

“As part of the 2016 – 2020 proposed Capital Improvement Program, this multi-phased project has an anticipated completion goal of December 2018. The first two phases involve environmental site assessments. Other phases include land planning, engineering and construction. ” -richmond.gov

Good ol’ government funded websites! But what happened? Jeremy M. Lazarus from Richmond Free Press did a bit of digging and found out that the plans were delayed.

“The department had hoped to begin work in 2018, but the assessment period to meet state and federal environmental requirements took longer than anticipated. The department now expects to get a green light to work on the property that also fronts the 3100 block of East Main Street.” -Credits to Richmond Free Press

Unfortunate, but there is good news.

“For a century, coal gas was created and used to power homes, businesses and streetlights from Fulton Gas Works, located at 3301 Williamsburg Ave. An environmental assessment of the site is nearing completion at a cost of $560,000, according to the city Department of Public Utilities.

Early next year, contractors are expected to be hired and working on the estimated 14-acre property, demolishing old structures on the site and removing the heavy metals and fuel contamination in the soil. Projected cost: $800,000 for demolition and $3 million to eliminate contamination.

‘We expect work to begin in early 2020,’ according to Angela Fountain, spokesperson for city Public Utilities.” -Richmond Free Press

Great! We should be expecting some work getting done any moment now! So…What are they planning on turning the building into?

“Department officials envision redeveloping part of the property as the central location for natural gas sales and marketing and to provide space for the gas utility’s construction, maintenance and engineering sections.” -Richmond Free Press

Well that’s a bit vague.

Definitely check our their article. It goes a lot more in-depth about the project and other projects surrounding the area. That’s all for this one, folks!

Credits to the richmond.gov website for the featured image of the Fulton Gas Works building!

2 comments

herbert carlson 02/13/2020 at 12:54 PM

>“Department officials envision redeveloping part of the property as the central location for natural gas sales and marketing and to provide space for the gas utility’s construction, maintenance and engineering sections.” -Richmond Free Press

What a tremendous waste of an amazing location.

Reply
Anthony Roberson JR 02/06/2021 at 8:38 PM

Any new news on the development of the area located at 3301 Williamsburg Ave?

– Concerned filmmaker 🙁

Reply

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