A mixed-development project for downtown Hopewell has city residents and officials hopeful. The city has been waiting for a project to begin a transformation of downtown from a deserted area into a livelier district and a walkable community with modern shops, restaurants and living spaces, city officials said. The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a development agreement between the city and developer Butterworth’s Lofts LLC, a Richmond-based group that plans to restore the former Larkin Hotel at 245 E. Broadway St., most recently used by Butterworth’s Furniture, and an adjacent warehouse and lot, built in 1916.

The days of dull walls inside Hopewell’s courthouse are over - at least until the end of the year. Works of art by local and state artists are hanging in the court’s lobby and first-floor waiting area. The approximately 30 images include a moving collection of paintings depicting African-American women. The works are by Alonzo Saunders, a Surry County native and resident of Petersburg.

This daily column features short news items from the 20 localities that make up the greater Richmond area. On Mondays, we run at least one item from each of the localities. If you have a news item, call 649-6990 or e-mail us at Amelia Work has begun on the visitors center at Amelia County’s Sailor’s Creek Battlefield State Park. The $1.1 million center is expected to be completed next summer.

Hopewell Grant’s Headquarters at City Point in Petersburg National Battlefield will welcome visitors to observe an archaeological survey starting this weekend as part of Virginia Archaeology Month. Students from the College of William and Mary will conduct test excavations of the park grounds surrounding Appomattox Manor from Saturday through Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Additional excavation may take place Oct. 18. For details, call (804) 458-9504 or visit the City Point Archaeological Survey online

The Crossings Cinema near Hopewell closed Sunday night, a victim of the faltering economy and a decline in the quality of the movies, its co-owner said. “You look at what movies are coming along, and it looks like it’s more of the same. I don’t see anything in there that’s going to be exceptional enough that it looks like [business] is going to be better,“ said Roy Tompkins, the independent theater’s co-owner.

HOPEWELL—Osage Bio Energy of Glen Allen will have a groundbreaking ceremony today for its new ethanol plant. The 10 a.m. ceremony for the Appomattox Bio Energy ethanol plant will be held at South Main Street and LaPrade Avenue near downtown.

Richmond Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church, 14 W. Duval St., will hold a historic-preservation seminar on Monday. The seminar will focus on the importance of preserving black heritage and will be held in conjunction with the annual conference of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. The seminar will include a panel discussion, lunch and a walking tour of Jackson Ward in downtown Richmond. The cost of the seminar is $35, and it is open to the public. To register, call APVA, (804) 648-1889, or the church, (804) 648-7511.

This daily column features short news items from the 20 localities that make up the greater Richmond area. On Mondays, we run at least one item from each of the localities.

Three firearms and nearly $20,000 in cash that had been stored in the Hopewell police evidence room still cannot be accounted for, Hopewell Chief Steven D. Martin announced yesterday. An administrative probe into chronic problems within the bureau’s property and evidence room also determined that confiscated narcotics, drug paraphernalia and other evidence could not be accounted for in 87 city drug cases.