Richmond Magazine - January 2025

I could habitate as well,” he says.

Architecture also inspired Dr. Nathaniel Cuthbert to buy Hotel Petersburg. “There’s this fabulous wealth of architecture spanning centuries. And if you take the time to look at it, I think you’ll find a lot that is appealing. It has a real sense of presence,” Cuthbert says. “I always liked the building. It’s my favorite period of commercial building, the first quarter of the 20th century.”

First opened in 1904 as the 30-room Shirley Hotel in the city’s Courthouse District, which is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, the building then morphed into a six-story, 125-room hotel. It had a grand reopening in 1916 and took the name Hotel Petersburg.

Over the decades, the hotel hosted dances and parties for Shriners and traveling businessmen, and it had its share of crime — most notably, a narcotics bust

in 1916 and some robberies in the 1960s. All these are laid out with photos of newspaper clippings on the hotel’s website.

A series of fires in the late 1960s and early ’70s eventually caused the building to close. The city purchased it in 1975 with the intention of building a new city hall, but that never happened, and the building sat dormant until Cuthbert bought it in 2017.

“I’ve always thought it was handsome, and it got to the point where I thought it was crying out to have something done with it,” Cuthbert says. “It just took me a while to hear those cries and to understand what they were.”

Cuthbert first thought the building would be ideal for apartments. “That would have been far, far easier than a boutique hotel,” he says, “but the city didn’t really want to go in that direction, and the mayor convinced me that a hotel would be a good use.” Cuthbert — whose brother Charlie represents the City Council’s 4th Ward across the street from the site — thought about it, did some market surveys and realized the property could be more than just a hotel.

“This is something that I’ve worked on for five years, to get a boutique hotel here in the city of Petersburg,” Mayor Samuel Parham says. “It took over $23 million to get that old Petersburg hotel renovated and back open, so it’s something that’s long overdue. I’m looking forward to it being a huge hit here in Petersburg.”

Even before its grand opening, the hotel was booking and holding events, Cuthbert says, citing meetings and dinners for pharmaceutical companies. “It’s very gratifying that there has been a lot of interest. I’ve got a stack of business cards this thick,” he says, gesturing with his fingers. “I’ve got to reach out to everybody and make lots of calls.”

GAME CHANGERS

The hotel reopening coincides with growth in the area due to new businesses and developments and, even more importantly, a surge in manufacturing jobs thanks to the pharmaceutical industry.

Petersburg was a hub of manufacturing jobs, most notably in tobacco plants, until one major company le in 1986, says Keith Boswell, president of Virginia’s Gateway Region, an economic development organization that has been helping businesses locate to the Tri-Cities area since the 1960s. “Brown & Williamson [Tobacco Corporation] was the big dog in this area,” he says. “They made an ultimatum to the city [demanding permission to expand]. The city said, ‘Well, we don’t think you’re leaving.’ And they le . They went to Macon, Georgia, and set up a brand-new operation down there. They totally devastated this city.”

According to research by former Progress-Index reporter Sarah Vogelsong, Brown & Williamson had begun building the Georgia plant during the 1970s to allow for growth and later decided due to economic factors to combine operations in its newest facility. However the events are interpreted, the company employed as many as 4,000 workers in Petersburg, and its departure helped speed up an economic downturn, according to the Historic Petersburg Foundation, a preservation organization.

Fast-forward to the growth of the pharmaceutical industry.

“It started mainly because the federal government put up some serious money into ge ing API made back into the United States,” Boswell explains, referring to active pharmaceutical ingredients, the biologically active component of drug products that produces the intended effects. “There are three companies in Petersburg right now making product,” including insulin, he says.

The federal grants incentivized companies to manufacture in the United States, and Petersburg’s designation as a Tech Hub by the federal Economic

Sew Inspired

Richmond’s creative community is crafting a movement

By LAURA ANDERS LEE

“I love the PROCESS of it — using my hands, seeing something COME TO LIFE and then actually getting to WEAR IT and say, ‘LOOK, I MADE THIS!’”

—Kristina Cassiday

pants,” Cassiday says. “When I had kids, I wanted to be able to make them things and take care of them in that way.”

Kiran is sensitive to tags and likes his clothes a certain way. “He calls them his ‘Mama-made’ clothes,” Cassiday says. She and Nayana are making a bag together, and she’s helping Kiran sew his own tooth fairy pillow. e kids are enrolled

in a Montessori school, and she’s grateful sewing is part of their curriculum.

Over the last six years, Cassiday has taught herself to sew while raising her kids, holding a full-time job and earning a doctoral degree. For help, she’s relied on sewing tutorials from her mother and on YouTube. She’s also found companies online, including Ellie & Mac and Boo & Lu, that provide simple patterns with step-by-step videos.

“Sewing is really exciting and empowering, and it also feels mediative,” she says.

“I love the process of it — using my hands, seeing something come to life and then actually ge ing to wear it and say, ‘Look, I made this!’”

One of the most experienced members, Katia Simmons, has been sewing for more than 60 years. She lived abroad as a child, and because she was much taller than her peers, she learned to sew out of necessity. “I can remember going with my mom to this wonderful fabric store in Paris that was several stories high — it was amazing,” she says. “My dad found a store that had the prototypes of couture dresses for cheap prices, so my mom always looked like a Parisian model.”

She still loves making her own clothes, from Victorian costumes just for fun to airy sundresses she wears to drive her school bus routes during the warmer months. “Many times, I can make much be er quality clothes than what’s in the stores — especially for the money,” Simmons says. “When I go to [department stores], I’m shocked by the quality of fabric and the prices. It’s highway robbery.”

While she loves the cra of sewing, she especially loves the friendships she’s formed with other members. “We don’t

Below, left to right: At Frocktails in November, Hayley Dotson modeled the dress she made for her wedding rehearsal; Ronny Lee showed a garment he designed from upcycled cotton T-shirts; and Kristina Cassiday and her children, Nayana and Kiran, appeared in coordinating outfits Cassiday sewed.