BUILD A 21st-CENTURY TRIANGLE

In keeping with the One Williamsburg vision, establish the Triangle Area as the vibrant epicenter for thriving Black tourism, community, culture, and economy.

Actions

• Intentionally cultivate, foster, and promote Black business and industry in the Triangle Area.

• Establish permanent historical interpretation of local Black history, including the African American Heritage Trail, for tourists, students, and the community.

• Identify a private developer to construct a local Black history-themed boutique hotel.

• Include mixed-use business/housing both reminiscent of the Triangle history of the African American community (local cleaners, barber shop, restaurant, convenience store, etc.) and supportive of the vibrant and growing 21st-century Black business community.

• Invest in the development of a re-created and reflective Triangle community, highlighting its strong and resounding determination and resilience.

• Ensure the enduring presence of affordable housing for year-round residents, at all income levels, with preference for the descendant community of the Triangle Area.

• Recruit and contract with underrepresented/historically excluded contractors, architects, engineers, artists, historians, landscapers, artisans for these initiatives.

• Organize, publicize, and provide workshops for underrepresented community on how to bid on city contracts two to four times per year at times and places most likely to reach the target group.

• Intentionally collaborate with the descendant community in planning and decisionmaking throughout this process, and incorporate descendant community concerns and initiatives within the Triangle vision.

• Re-examine the names of local streets, sites, and buildings to ensure they reflect local Triangle history.

• Establish a Cultural Arts Center that is a dedicated space in the City of Williamsburg that serves as a welcoming community space for meetings, art exhibits, archives, and research about African Americans.

• Consider grants, subsidies, and tax incentives to ensure that Black-owned businesses are able to become established along the African American Heritage Trail and in the greater Triangle Area.

• Commission a study focused on Triangle Area and other historically Black communities to analyze historical and current data and to recommend ways for descendant and other historically excluded communities to access affordable housing options within Williamsburg.

• Provide tax-advantaged opportunities for civic and community-minded citizens to invest in development of the greater Triangle area as a vibrant center of Black tourism, community, housing, culture, and economy.

• City of Williamsburg, including law enforcement and the Citizen’s Advisory Committee

• Descendant community

• Economic Development Authority

• Community organizations/Leaders o Let Freedom Ring Foundation o Village: The Initiative for Equity in Education o Coming to the Table: Historic Triangle o Inner Peace Coalition o Faith Walkers o York, James City, Williamsburg

NAACP

• Black-owned businesses and business community

• Chamber of Commerce (tourism, business support and connections, LEAD)