Editing Hopewell, Virginia (section)

===Urban renewal===
Like many cities, Hopewell embarked on an [[urban renewal]] plan in the 1960s in an attempt to revitalize its downtown retail area. The plan was a failure because many of the retail businesses that had been located downtown moved elsewhere to new shopping centers being developed outside the [[city limits]] in Petersburg, Chester, and Prince George County. With the exception of a new branch bank and a [[Hardee's]] fast food restaurant constructed in the late 1970s, the former downtown area that was razed for redevelopment remained a vast gravel parking lot for decades.

However, a new urbanization is occurring, and many long vacant storefronts are now refurbished and occupied. Several others are now under construction. Further, the City invested $12 million in a new beautiful state of the art flagship library for the busy Appomattox Regional Library System, the Maude Langhorne Nelson Library. The library has a cyber cafe, extensive YA and children's collections, and a replica of the historic, 1600s-era frigate ship, ''Hopewell'', installed as a centerpiece.<ref>Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2014 ARLS {{cite web |url=https://data.imls.gov/Public-Libraries-Survey/Library-Systems-FY-2014-Public-Libraries-Survey-Ad/ckgu-babp |title=Archived copy |access-date=November 9, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104151425/https://data.imls.gov/Public-Libraries-Survey/Library-Systems-FY-2014-Public-Libraries-Survey-Ad/ckgu-babp |archive-date=November 4, 2016 }}</ref><ref>Official Website of the City of Hopewell http://hopewellva.gov/library/</ref> The city also restored the Beacon Theatre, which was built in 1928, and there are 70 or more concerts and other events annually. Performers there include [[The Temptations]], [[The Four Tops]], [[Vince Gill]], [[Travis Tritt]], [[Clint Black]], [[Amy Grant]], [[Average White Band]], [[Vanilla Ice]], [[The Commodores]], [[Pure Prairie League]], [[Delbert McClinton]], and many more.

New plantings and street beautification projects have been put into place, to attract more businesses and shoppers to the East Broadway area.