Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 21, 1991 TAG: 9102210493
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PETERSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Nights are quiet on the Appomattox River island. Crime is not a problem. And neighbors know each other.
It's a lifestyle that island residents want to preserve, but change is in the air.
City officials, eager to develop the riverfront, are planning to dredge the south channel of the river this summer to make it more accessible to boat traffic and increase tourism in downtown Petersburg.
The project troubles the 100 residents of the island, which is about 20 yards from the river's south bank.
They're worried that speculators have an eye on their island. Worried that outsiders might tarnish their secluded, intimate community.
"Life on Pocahontas is serenity," said island native R.J. Bragg. "There's a peace, there's a love, there's a caring. We all know one another. I would like for it to stay that way."
David Canada, Petersburg's director of planning, said the dredging project will help revitalize downtown Petersburg.
Canada said the city wants to develop the riverfront area by opening parks, marinas and restaurants along the Appomattox next to the city's historic Old Towne.
"We want to be developed and grow," said Mercedes V. Smith, president of the Pocahontas Neighborhood Association. "But we don't want people to come in and make us feel like we're still slaves."
Canada discounts fears that dredging threatens Pocahontas Island.
"We have no plans to dislodge anybody," he said. "We're not in the business of adversely affecting the community."
Canada said the city is listening to residents' concerns. "It's a visible neighborhood, one that we should value as a community and home," he said.
Despite the assurances, Bragg and Smith said residents - many of them senior citizens - are left in the dark when it comes to plans that could affect their island.
"The city hasn't come to us. Nobody's told us anything," Smith said. "We are not being kept informed."
Said Bragg, "It's like no one wants to tell us anything."
Pocahontas Island has a long history. Named for the Indian princess by the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1752, Pocahontas was founded as a town in Chesterfield County. The island was incorporated by Petersburg in 1784.
"It is unique because it was a predominantly free black community," said James W. Smith, a history professor at Virginia State University who wrote a 100-page history of the island in 1981.
Among the community's treasures is the Pocahontas Community Chapel, a green church built in 1800 and given to the community in 1866. It later served as a school for blacks.
Today, residents gather there for church and community meetings.
About 1,000 people in the Petersburg area can claim a heritage to the island, Smith said. With February being Black History Month, present and former residents of Pocahontas are doubly aware of the importance to preserve their heritage.
"Virginia is a living museum of history," Smith said. "This is one historical spot that ought to be preserved."
Last fall the city opened a road extending Fifth Street in downtown Petersburg to the island. Before that, the only access was from a ramp off the Appomattox River Bridge.
Residents said that although the new road was necessary, it is an avenue for drug dealers and other intruders.
"By being opened to the public, the seclusion is going to leave," said Smith.
The new road "gives credence that if dredging also takes place, the area would be more accessible and open to development," said Virginia State's Smith. "I'm not so sure the city is interested in preserving the community."
He fears Pocahontas will be swept away with attempts to develop the riverfront.
"I can't see how economic development will not affect that island," Smith said. He said an increase in land value would raise the interest of speculators.
Pocahontas must be preserved, said George Pilarinos, president of the Historical Petersburg Foundation.
Not protecting the island "would be a tragedy for the city," Pilarinos said. "It's out of sight and out of mind, but it would be a tragic, painful loss for the city.
Any development, Bragg said, must assure that buildings are preserved and that families can remain in the community. She said residents plan to lobby the city and work with the Historical Foundation to make their point.
"In any venture there are bucks," Bragg said. "But you can't just come in here and tear us apart. Let's just say the buck stops here."
by CNB