Mount Vernon, home of George Washington and a major tourist attraction for Northern Virginia, just received $38 million to build a new library for the study of the “Father of Our Country.”
The problem? Many driverswillhave to drive along Route 1 to see it.
The historic highway is teeming with run-down strip malls, stand-alone auto repair shops and empty storefronts.
Names of the shopping centers start to blur together after awhile. Engleside Plaza. Prince William Plaza. Mount Vernon Plaza. Many feature “for lease” or “office space available” signs.
The stores left at the Woodlawn Shopping Center in Alexandria are “just not doing a lot of business,” said Dick Kirkland, who lives in the area.
“Real slow,” he added. “Real slow.”
Decades ago, “all of this was a farm,” added nearby resident Albert Mays.
“There was none of this here — absolutely none,” he added. “You’ve got too many damn people living in this area.”
While the days of bucolic carriage rides and green vistas may have come and gone, local leaders have not given up on revitalizing the historic thruway.
The Southeast Fairfax Development Corp., a public-private partnership founded in 1981, is devoted to helping attract or expand businesses in Fairfax County’s Route 1 corridor.
The sluggish economy, though, has slowed the effort, said Debi Sandlin, the corporation’s executive director.
Right now, the group is simply “trying to position Richmond Highway to be ready for the next wave,” she said.
The Prince William County Board of Supervisors recently changed long-term plans to promote transit and mixed-use development — centers that include residential, office and retail space.
“When you look up and down Route 1 … what you’re really seeing is post-World War II development of strip retail where you need an automobile to get to,” said Chairman Corey Stewart, R-at large.
Indeed, as Interstate 95 developed, people began moving westward — to the detriment of business along Route 1, Sandlin said.
“It’s going to take one or two players to start the ball rolling,” she said.
