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Community members credit foundations and volunteers in Eastville jail restoration
Summary
Speakers at an Eastville event credited a $50,000 matching grant, local foundations, volunteers and contractors for completing restoration of a historic jail, described exhibit work and urged outreach to bring school groups to the site.
Speakers at a community event in Eastville credited foundations, volunteers and local contractors for completing restoration work on a historic jail and said they plan to expand programming and school outreach.
S1 (Moderator) thanked individuals and partner organizations, singling out “the Virginia Humanities, the Cabell Foundation, but mostly Eastern Shore Foundation,” and named local contributors including Randy Bird, Betsy, Jean Flynn and Monica. “The building's just a building, and none of it really tells a story without Joyce and Sally,” S1 said, praising the exhibit work that will interpret the site for visitors.
S3 (Presenter) described the funding timeline and a matching grant arrangement. “We started raising the money and with the grant from the Cabell Foundation, we had a matching matching grant, $50,000. We had to raise the other 50,000, and then COVID happened,” S3 said, adding that the group met the fundraising deadline after relying on solicitations. S3 credited Eric and local tradespeople—“particularly the mason, Tom Hastings, who did the roof”—for delivering restoration work.
S2 (Presenter) walked listeners through the jail’s interior and historic features, noting that interior cells changed escape dynamics. “They still managed to do it through the cell…3 prisoners, I think, got out, my song through the bricks,” S2 said, recounting an escape anecdote tied to the structure’s layout. S2 also read details from old blueprints, saying designers planned for roughly eight people per side—“a total of 16 people”—and that the building seemed smaller in person than memory suggested.
Organizers said they want schools to visit the site so students can see the exhibits and learn local history; S1 urged the community to help bring school groups to the facility. No formal votes or policy decisions were recorded at the event, which focused on celebration, attribution of volunteer and donor contributions, and next steps for programming and outreach.
