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Downtowns RevisitedAt various points in time, I revisited two downtown areas, and visited a new one. On December 28, 2002, I revisited Charlottesville's historic Downtown Mall, an open brick pedestrian mall, last photographed in The Schumin Web Photo Essay Blitz in 2002. I also revisited downtown Roanoke on December 28, 2003, last seen in An Urban Comparison, part of The Schumin Web Photo Essay Blitz 2003. The difference, though, is that while the previous photos were done during daylight hours, these were done at night, taking advantage of a whole different array of lighting. I also visited downtown Staunton on August 18, 2003, which I'd never photographed before, either at night or otherwise. As with other topics, once the sun has set and the lights of man come on, it presents a whole different mood, which I hope to convey in these photos... - Charlottesville -
At the far end of the Downtown Mall, a historical marker stands guard, providing information about Three Notch'd Road, also known as Three Chopt Road, which was replaced by modern US 250 in the 1930's.
On a winter night, Charlottesville's Downtown Mall is pretty quiet, as the cold suppresses much of the nightlife. During the summer, the Downtown Mall is packed well into the night, due to restaurants with outdoor seating and music and lots more.
With the LexisNexis building in the background, the far end of the Downtown Mall, near the Market Street parking garage, is peppered with trees and planters, making for a serene atmosphere.
At various points along the Downtown Mall, fire plugs make their presence known, kept painted a bright, shiny red.
At night, the cutout silhouettes are less evident as during the day, but they're there, looking more realistic at night due to their darkened silhouette nature.
Down a side street, the Water Street parking garage is visible, with a Subway restaurant in the bottom of it.
The area around the Paramount Theater was walled off, with some demolition work underway to one side of the marquee.
A small cove of shops midway through the Downtown Mall is quiet on this winter night, but during the day, is bustling with activity.
The Wachovia Building stands tall, as one of the tallest structures in downtown.
Meanwhile, construction blocks off a road on the Water Street side of the Downtown Mall.
An oriental rug store in the process of going out of business sits, awaiting the beginning of another business day.
The buildings of downtown are indeed a sight to behold, beautiful by day or by night.
Even the traffic crossing at the Omni Hotel end of the Downtown Mall is quiet...
And lastly, anchoring the Downtown Mall is the Charlottesville Ice Park and the Omni Hotel, both beautifully decorated for Christmas. - Roanoke -
In Roanoke, the defining element of downtown and the skyline in general is the Wachovia Tower, known as the First Union Tower until the spring of 2003. The building changed its name as a result of the merger between First Union and Wachovia, with the combined company taking the Wachovia name.
In Roanoke's downtown, life was evident, as a number of restaurants were open late, and music could be heard playing.
However, the streets themselves were fairly quiet, as most of the shops were closed at this hour of the night.
The four-faced clock, a very charming element of Roanoke's downtown outside the Wachovia Tower, is as beautiful a sight at night as it is during the day. It also gives an idea as to how late these photos were taken, as it was nearing 1:00 AM.
Roanoke's downtown is indeed beautiful by night, and the lighting of downtown makes for a gorgeous sight. - Staunton -
I was originally drawn to Staunton's downtown through an internship with the Central Shenandoah Valley Office on Youth, shown here, where I got to discover the beauty of downtown Staunton by working amongst it (though someone please help them with the parking situation).
Downtown Staunton, with the exception of a few restaurants, is quiet at night during the week, with only a few cars parked in a municipal parking lot. These cars may perhaps belong to guests of nearby Frederick House, a small hotel in downtown Staunton.
Staunton's City Courthouse is right on Beverley Street, a beautiful historic structure, indeed.
The Dixie Theater is one of downtown Staunton's landmark attractions, showing first-run movies. The plan is to run it as a movie theater until the Staunton Performing Arts Center group is ready to renovate it. Based on historic photos, the Dixie was a beautiful theater following its restoration after a 1936 fire. Unfortunately, since then, the Dixie was hastily reconfigured into a "multiplex" theater in 1981, now housing four movie theaters in an area designed for one.
With little nightlife in Staunton, Beverley Street is quiet. During the day, this area is hopping, with pedestrians milling about, and lots of street parking.
Traffic lights in downtown Staunton make use of strobes and LEDs on their red lights, in order to help draw attention to their presence.
Downtown Staunton, as well as much of the rest of the city, is characterized by very steep hills, as evidenced here on Beverley Street (at left) and Frederick Street (at right).
At the corner of Beverley and Coalter Streets, the traffic lights shine brightly for the trickle of nighttime traffic.
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