NEWS UPDATE: Colonial Williamsburg Seeks to Make Room for New Visitor Arrival Center
Williamsburg Architectural Review Board will consider demolition of existing structures on proposed site
As reported in the Williamsburg Independent last month, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation plans to build a new visitor arrival center near the intersection of Lafayette Street and North Botetourt Street. Their goal is to open the new attraction in time for next year’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In order to make room for the facility, the Foundation has requested to demolish multiple administrative and operations buildings dating to the 1950s and 1960s. Williamsburg’s Architectural Review Board (ARB) will consider the request at their meeting this week on Tuesday, July 8, 2025 at 6:30PM in the Stryker Center at 412 North Boundary Street.
Back in June, the ARB conducted a conceptual review of the proposed arrival center, about which the Foundations states “[t]he directive for site design was guided by maximization of parking efficiency without creating a large expansive parking lot that feels like a strip mall lot.” At the time, the Foundation stated that they intend to tear down several administrative buildings on Franklin Street and the laundry building on Lafayette Street. Regarding the Franklin Street administration building, the Foundation states that it “initially served as employee/student housing. More recently, it has served as the office for some of the operations at CWF. It was largely a utilitarian building with no significant architectural value or significance.”
Other planning components such as a study to determine the impacts on traffic along busy Lafayette Street have not yet been made public. The City recently announced plans for improvements the road, including a new traffic circle, wider traffic lanes and a mixed-use path.
As most of the buildings slated for demolition were built in the 1950s to 1960s, the Foundation contends that they are not worth preserving, though an archeological assessment will be conducted to “rule out any significant findings.” The organization also points out that saving and repurposing the buildings is prohibitively expensive.
Several buildings in the vicinity of the proposed arrival center are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and are not part of the project’s plans. One is the nearby Mt. Ararat Baptist Church and the other is the Franklin Street Kitchen.
Potential development of other Foundation property
Based on previous applications and statements, the Foundation has set out on a path to develop multiple properties they deem underutilized. The Foundation has already leased the land for the sports complex that is currently under construction by the Historic Triangle Recreation Facilities Authority (HTRFA). Other potential projects include:
Live performance venue
Contract documents obtained by the Williamsburg Independent through a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request verifies that the HTRFA wants to use an adjacent property owned by the Foundation as the site of a new live performance venue. HTRFA, led by Andrew Trivette, the Board Chair, had agreed to a non-binding preliminary agreement with a contractor to design and build the performance venue. But that initiative has been postponed for now, in part due to budget constraints faced by the City of Williamsburg. Earlier this year, the Williamsburg City Council directed Trivette, who is also the City Manager, to cut millions of dollars from his initial proposed budget for fiscal year 2026.
Recreation & entertainment district
As reported by Ben Swenson last year in the Daily Press, Trivette submitted a request to the City on behalf of the HTRFA and Colonial Williamsburg to rezone more than 150 acres surrounding the current visitors’ center. The proposal was ultimately withdrawn, but would have created a new Recreation & Entertainment District (RE-1) consisting of 500 multi-family residential units, dozens of townhomes as well as 200,000 square feet of research and lab space. Another 50,000 square feet was planned for retail. Future plans for the site have not been announced by the Foundation or HTRFA.
The Woodlands
The proposed zoning for the RE-1 district also included the site of the Foundation’s Woodlands hotel and conference center. The long-term plan for this property has not been publicly disclosed by the Foundation.
Parking lots
In the past, Foundation leadership has stated that additional property could be considered for development, including the P6 parking lot which occupies a prime spot near Merchant’s Square.
Green Course
Colonial Williamsburg previously proposed building housing on the site of its nine-hole golf course called Spotswood, though the proposal was also withdrawn. The golf course was subsequently redesigned and recently reopened with a new name, “The Shoe”. The Green Course, another golf property owned by Colonial Williamsburg, has also been the subject of speculation about potential future development. Though the Foundation’s long-term plans for the Green Course is unknown, it abuts another large tract of land sold by the Foundation in 2018 to Riverside Health System, which has begun to develop the land. One proposed project near Riverside Doctor’s Hospital is the recently revived Redoubt Ridge @ Quarterpath, which could consist of almost 200 new homes.