Academy of Fine Arts is for All of Central Virginia

The News & Advance
Published: July 12, 2008

For decades, the old Academy of Music on Main Street in downtown Lynchburg has sat empty and lifeless.

For almost as long, people have been kicking around ideas about how to bring life back into the old Beaux Arts building, once the center of the Hill City’s cultural life.

Now, after years of effort and planning, we’re about to see the realization of that dream.

The building, on the National Register of Historic Places, is now home to the Academy of Fine Arts, the premier fine and performing arts body of Central Virginia. From art shows and community theater performances to classes and studios, it’s all at the Academy ... right now.

And it’s only going to get better in the future.

Late last month, community leaders broke ground on the first phase of the Academy’s building and renovation program. The centerpiece is the construction of a 25-foot flytower for the main stage of the Academy.

So far, supporters have raised more than $15 million in a years-long effort to restore the downtown gem. Another $10 million still needs to be rounded up to finish the construction of a modern, 21st-century performing arts center.

And it can be done.

Writing in today’s Panorama section, City Manager Kimball Payne lays out his hope that the Academy restoration/construction will be “The Next Big Thing” in downtown’s long, winding path back to life.

We couldn’t agree more. The success of the Academy of Fine Arts project is key not just to downtown but all of Central Virginia in the years ahead.

Downtown Lynchburg in 2008 is similar to Downtown Charlottesville in 1983: an uncut diamond waiting to be cut and polished.

More than a quarter of a century ago, Charlottesville leaders constructed a pedestrian mall in the middle of downtown, then a ghostland of empty storefronts and a few retail hangers-on. Outlying shopping centers and malls had almost killed the city’s traditional center.

At the center of Charlottesville’s downtown was the empty, hulking Paramount Theatre, once one of the city’s grand movie palaces. For 30 years, from 1974 until 2004, the theater sat empty. But four years ago, after years of fundraising and construction, the Paramount came back to life as the arts center of the greater Charlottesville region.

It has hosted a variety of events, from classical music concerts and recitals to Broadway shows and rap concerts, drawing an audience from all parts of the community.

And all around the Paramount, Charlottesville’s downtown has sprung back to life: an amazing array of restaurants, downtown lofts, unique speciality shops and more.

Guess what? We have that and more right now in Downtown Lynchburg!

Despite the constant whining of some critics of downtown revitalization, Downtown Lynchburg is, right now, an exciting place to be. With projects such as the Academy renovation and work set to commence on the Riverfront, Lynchburg’s historic city center is set to boom.

Mark our words: That’s a prediction we’re willing to be held to.

Downtown will never be what it was in 1950, but it can be something unique and special in the 21st century.

That’s the amazing potential of Lynchburg’s Academy of Fine Arts, as Payne and others point out. The vision is there ... the dream is there ... all that’s left is the resolve simply to get it done.