Lovings open to city buying, not ‘taking,’ Shockoe land, attorney says
January 20, 2021 12
A rendering of the slavery museum planned between the train tracks and the interstate. The Loving-owned land is east of the tracks. (
Courtesy of SmithGroup)
The family whose land holdings are at the center of a planned slavery memorial and museum in Shockoe Bottom say they are not opposed to the project or to selling their land for it, but rather to the prospect of the city acquiring it through eminent domain.
That’s according to Stephen Clarke, an attorney for the family of Harry and Betty Loving, whose properties generally east of the Main Street Station train shed are being targeted by the city for its planned Enslaved African Heritage Campus, a years-in-the-making commemoration site that has received funding boosts from the city and state in recent months.
City to purchase Loving land for Shockoe slavery commemorative site
December 24, 2020
The properties near Main Street Station planned for a slavery commemorative site include the old Loving’s Produce building. (
Jonathan Spiers photo)
Five months after Mayor Levar Stoney announced a funding commitment to establish a long-sought slavery commemorative site in Shockoe Bottom, the City of Richmond is taking steps to purchase land for the project that just a few years ago was being pitched for a baseball stadium.
Administrators are proposing a public necessity declaration to allow the city to purchase 12 parcels totaling roughly 1.75 acres that would contribute to a planned Enslaved African Heritage Campus.