Suffolk News-Herald

The official groundbreaking for the new Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center isn’t until next month.

The Professional Building and College Court are still under renovation.

Nonetheless, the city has already reaped multiple awards recognizing its downtown revitalization efforts from the Virginia Downtown Development Association.

During the organization’s recent convention, Suffolk walked away with five honors, including:

— Outstanding Local Government Official – Mayor E. Dana Dickens III, for his leadership in the creation of the Downtown Initiatives Plan and the Unified Development Ordinance;

— Downtown Volunteer – John C. Harrell, for his leadership as chairman of the Industrial Development Authority and his role in structuring three public/private partnerships: the new Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center, the Suffolk Center for the Cultural Arts, and College Court;

— Outstanding Downtown Organization – The Suffolk-Nansemond Historical Society, for its advocacy in saving historic structures, including the Prentis House, Seaboard Train Station and Railroad Museum and College Court;

— Outstanding Downtown Promotion – Market Days in Historic Suffolk, as coordinated by the downtown development director or tourism director;

— Exemplary Downtown Building Improvement – The Prentis House.

Beverley Coleman, the VDDA’s vice president, said a tremendous amount of progress has been made with Suffolk’s downtown in recent years.

&uot;One feeling I get looking at Suffolk is that there is a concentrated effort in getting downtown turned around,&uot; Coleman said. &uot;A lot of dedicated individuals are working to make that happen.

&uot;A key contributor to Suffolk’s success is the belief by city leaders that downtown development is just as important as industrial development.&uot;