ROANOKE, Va. – A new mural was unveiled in Roanoke on Wednesday, featuring the faces of the men and women who witnessed history unfold in Roanoke’s Gainsboro neighborhood.
Once nicknamed “Tank Town,” the area now known as the Berglund Center was once was a thriving black community.
Joseph Sims, 85, grew up in Gainsboro and watched as his family and hundreds of others were forced to leave their homes.
“It was so hard when we found out we had to leave the area and find somewhere else to go,” said Sims, who is featured in the mural. Sims’ grandparents were offered money to move, but it wasn’t enough to buy a home, so they were left with a mortgage they couldn’t afford.
Gainsboro was home to 1,600 houses, 200 black-owned businesses and ten churches and schools. They were all destroyed during urban renewal in the 1960s and 1970s to build Interstate 581 and the Berglund Center.
“This building, this area that I love so much, had a stain on it,” said Robyn Schon, director of civic facilities at the Berglund Center.
On Wednesday, the City of Roanoke and the Berglund Center worked to make amends by unveiling the mural during an emotional ceremony.
“This story needs to be told. And this is just another way for it to keep being told,” said muralist Bryce Cobbs.
Pictured front-and-center is Kathleen Ross, one of the last remaining homeowners near the Berglund Center. Her daughter, Brenda Allen, said her mom didn’t give up without a fight.
“When urban renewal came through, people were scattered. We weren’t this big, huge family anymore. And my mother was determined that she was not going to leave when they asked her to leave,” said Allen.
Richard Lee Chubb, another Gainsboro resident who was recognized on Wednesday, said the mural is a symbol of hope.
“We’ve had a lot of promises [the City] gonna do certain things. But this is the first time I’m seeing them begin to try to put some places of hope back again that’s tangible,” said Chubb.
A celebration of Roanoke’s past and the people who shaped it’s present and future.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Sims. “It’s never too late to make a wrong right.”