The Gilpin Court, Hillside Court, Creighton Court, Fairfield Court, Whitcomb Court, and Mosby Court housing developments were each surveyed and researched as part of the effort to document their history against the backdrop of the City of Richmond’s larger planning efforts in recent decades.
Commonwealth
RRHA “Big Six” Public Housing Survey and Historic Context Report
Architectural Survey
Building Documentation and Scanning
Historic Resource Documentation
Mitigation for Section 106/Environmental Compliance
Section 106/Environmental Compliance
Survey and Evaluation of Effects
RRHA Big 6 Architectural Survey & Historic Context Report
Partners
Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
Project Goals
RRHA hired CPG to document and assess the integrity of the City's "Big Six" public housing developments to fulfill Section 106 mitigation requirements.
Project Design
The historic context report situates these communities against backdrop of state and national public housing history in addition to the city-wide efforts.
To complete this project, CPG conducted a building-by building survey of more than 500 buildings, archival research, public engagement, and worked closely with RRHA and VDHR staff. Each public housing development was also evaluated for potential eligibility as a historic district.
Challenges & Accomplishments
This project was undertaken as part of a Section 106 compliance project as a means of mitigating the demolition of these community buildings.
Since its completion, the historic context report report also resulted in nominating Fay Towers to the National Register of Historic Places and has enabled the RRHA to pursue state historic rehabilitation tax credits for its renovation.