Shockoe Bottom considered for slavery museum

If former Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder's slavery museum is being abandoned in Fredericksburg, some Richmond officials say it's time to talk about the project -- or something like it -- for Shockoe Bottom.

"I really feel, that from the very beginning, it should have been in Richmond" because of the city's role in the slave trade, said Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond.

McQuinn, a former member of the Richmond City Council, and City Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson said they want to talk to Mayor Dwight C. Jones about approaching Wilder to see if his U.S. National Slavery Museum might find a home in Shockoe Bottom in light of signs that the project may have shut down in Fredericksburg.

The Main Street Station train shed and nearby Seaboard Building could be used until a permanent museum is built, McQuinn said.

"It's not something that he's considered, and it's not something that's been brought to him," said Jones' press secretary, Tammy D. Hawley.

Wilder has not returned calls in recent days, and there's no indication what his plans for the long-sputtering museum may be.

The nonprofit museum, selected for Fredericksburg in 2001 over sites in Richmond and at Hampton University, has not paid a $24,093 real estate tax bill that was due Nov. 15 for its 38-acre property on the Rappahannock River.

The museum's phone system is set for outgoing calls only. Messages left yesterday with its Washington-based public-relations firm weren't returned.

Lawrence A. Davies, a member of the museum's board of directors and a longtime friend of Wilder, said he has no idea where the project stands.

Davies, a Baptist minister and former mayor of Fredericksburg, said it's unusual for him to have not heard from Wilder for so long: "I can only hope he will surface in some form soon."

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The buzz about the museum comes about two months after remains of the Lumpkin's Slave Jail were unearthed in a parking lot in Shockoe Bottom and as Richmond officials face major decisions about the area's future.

Highwoods Properties has proposed a minor-league baseball stadium as part of Shockoe Center, a $363 million development that would include shops, offices, hotels and residences.

The proposal calls for retail on the first floor of the Main Street Station train shed.

On the building's second floor, GRTC Transit System is planning an open-air downtown bus-transfer center, a project designed to reduce bus traffic on Broad Street and in downtown. Long term, the center also would support regional efforts, including light rail, said John M. Lewis Jr., chief executive officer of GRTC.

With preliminary designs complete, the $70 million transfer center is at "a very important crossroads" for approval and is being positioned for funding through the federal stimulus package, Lewis said.

The city hasn't yet approved the project, but Jones supports the idea, as well as preservation of the Lumpkin's site, Hawley said.

However, City Councilman Bruce W. Tyler said he believes the transfer center should go elsewhere, in part to allow for proper commemoration of Shockoe Bottom's role in the slave trade.

The Lumpkin jail, owned by Robert Lumpkin, held slaves from 1840 until the end of the Civil War, a period when Richmond served as the nation's largest domestic slave market.

Tyler argues that the transfer center would be too expensive and fears that its ramps could end up isolating the 12,000-square-foot archaeological site from the rest of Shockoe Bottom.

"I believe it's time for Richmond to enter into a serious discussion about developing a heritage center, where Lumpkin's jail is a key component," he said. "We have to decide what's more important" -- a transfer center or the area's history.

McQuinn, who leads the Richmond Slave Trail Commission, said she has some concerns about the transfer center but said it's worth seeing how it might be fashioned with the slave-jail site and a potential museum.

"Somebody's going to have to begin the discussion so there can be some decisions made," she said.

Lewis defended the transfer center as a sound investment and a good use for the historic train shed. An initial environment assessment submitted to federal authorities shows the project won't have an adverse impact on the slave-jail site, he said.

"I don't know what the needs are for the museum," Lewis said. "I think it's a great concept. What happens on the first floor is entirely up to the city. We're only taking up the second floor."

The developers for Shockoe Center said they haven't been in contact with Wilder but are interested in talking.

"I think we would be receptive to discussions with the National Slavery Museum and people associated with them," said Ralph L. Axselle Jr., an attorney for the developers. "Richmond is, in many respects one of the most appropriate places to memorialize and honor one of the most difficult periods of our history."

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or .