RADFORD â City Council will continue to explore the possibility of building an amphitheater after it received two conceptual designs from a local engineering firm.
Over the last few years, several council members have expressed an interest in an outdoor venue as part of the cityâs plan to increase its appeal as a place to visit in the New River Valley.
Local design firm Thompson & Litton presented council with two concepts for an amphitheater complex, both located on a roughly one-acre plot of land southwest of the Glencoe Mansion and next to the Kollmorgen plant.
Both designs call for enough room for roughly 2,900 occupants â including performers and vendors â but the size of the stages and the amount of people allowed at an event could vary depending on multiple factors, according to Thompson & Littonâs Barry Collier, who gave the presentation to council at last weekâs council meeting.
Several Radford city council members are looking to increase the amount of historical context throughout the city, particularly in predominantly Black areas.
Mayor David Horton brought up the idea at a recent city council meeting at the tail end of Black History Month after publishing a series of Facebook posts throughout February highlighting local Black history each day of the month.
âI decided to share some of the stories I knew but also to reach out to some of the people in the community that I knew had additional stories to share,â he said. âAnd so each day in February, I profiled different people and places and stories and families and everything.â