City presents plan, funding and timelines for Shockoe heritage campus including Lumpkin’s Jail pavilion

City staff presented an updated plan and funding overview for the Shockoe (heritage) campus, a multi-element program that includes a Lumpkin’s Jail pavilion, Anne Carroll’s Landing and Slave Trail improvements, relocation and restoration of the Emily Winfrey cottage, the Shockoe Institute exhibit hall, a Shockoe Hill African Burial Ground commemorative space, and a proposed National Slavery Museum.

Presenter Ms. Ebert said the Shockoe Institute — a nonprofit partner that received Mellon Foundation grant support — is contracting exhibit design and that the city has engaged Baskerville as lead designer for a 12,000-square-foot exhibit hall. Ebert said the Baskerville contract to design the exhibit hall is approximately $986,948 and that Team Henry has a construction award of about $2,500,000 for build-out work. The exhibit build-out was described as beginning in spring with a timeline of roughly 12 months to opening in summer of the following year.

Ebert detailed the Lumpkin’s Jail site, noting archaeological remains found about 10–15 feet below grade, and described a pavilion and design that would allow visitors to view excavated foundations and interpretive materials. She said the Lumpkin’s pavilion construction estimate is about $17.5 million and that the broader southern-campus element, including the South Memorial, has a current estimated cost of about $34 million. Ebert said the city had secured a combination of state funding ($13.4 million noted) and city capital budget allocations and that, in total, roughly $32 million was budgeted in the city’s Capital Improvement Program for Shockoe project elements, with an additional $10 million budgeted in fiscal 2026–27; Ebert described total available funding for the initial listed elements at about $45 million.

Ebert described the Emily Winfrey cottage relocation and restoration — estimated at about $1.5 million and included in the CIP — and the Anne Carroll’s Landing and Slave Trail work (contract award to Team Henry at roughly $2,000,000). She said moving the cottage is a prerequisite to starting Lumpkin’s Pavilion construction and that rights-of-way across CSX Railroad have been a permitting challenge for the Slave Trail improvements. Ebert also said the city purchased a 1.2-acre parcel that contains the Shockoe Hill African Burial Ground and that the city successfully had it designated as a cemetery; the estimated budget for commemorative improvements on that 1.2-acre parcel is about $1.8 million.

On the National Slavery Museum, Ebert said the city is cooperating with a foundation that plans to fundraise for a museum; she said the museum is not in the city budget and estimated the likely construction cost “well over $100 million.” She acknowledged floodplain and stormwater constraints across the site and said some design elements, including a bridge over East Broad Street, address floodway mitigation.

Council members thanked staff and requested follow-up questions; staff said they would be available for more detailed conversations on design and implementation.