On a perfect summer night at the end of August, more than 4,000 music lovers gathered at Port Warwick in Newport News to hear the band Revelation perform at Styron Square. A festive mood prevailed, as community members picnicked, danced, sang and reveled in the joy of a carefree gathering.
It was the kind of scene Newport News developer Bobby Freeman envisioned 26 years ago, when he purchased 150 acres of land in the middle of the city and made a vow to create a neighborhood unlike any other.
“I didn’t want to build the typical development, with tennis courts and swimming pools and homes around cul-de-sacs. I wanted public art and public spaces to hold concerts and events,” he writes in his newly published book, A Sense of Place: The Story of Port Warwick.
During a recent interview, Freeman highlighted key moments in the project’s history, starting with his decision to purchase what was formerly contaminated land owned by Eveready Battery Company. As a Newport News native, Freeman was well acquainted with the property and at first, wanted nothing to do with it.
“For everyone who grew up around here,” he says, “it was known as a place with a chain link fence and a big sign that said, ‘Keep Out.’ We just ignored it our whole lives.”
As noted in his book, Freeman’s resistance evaporated when he viewed the property, which he considered the most attractive piece of land he had seen in a long time. By December 2000, he owned it, and work got underway.
He describes Port Warwick as one of the earliest examples of “new urbanism,” a design type focused on walkability, with streets and gathering places built for people rather than cars. The style features a mix of housing types, including apartments or condos situated above businesses.
Freeman says he had to “go down a few rabbit holes” that ultimately allowed him to create a development entirely unique to the region. For inspiration, he traveled to Europe and visited old public squares in Dublin, Edinburgh and London. He worked quickly, measuring and photographing six to eight squares a day and observing how important the proper selection of trees was for the creation of magical green spaces. After visiting 70 public squares, he came home, knowing he wanted to replicate the features of the best ones he had seen overseas.
Selecting a name for such a project can be daunting for any developer. Freeman resolved the challenge after learning that the late Pulitzer Prize winning novelist William Styron, a Newport News native, had chosen “Port Warwick” as the fictionalized name for the city in his first novel, Lie Down in Darkness. Knowing Styron had never gotten proper recognition from his hometown, Freeman felt it appropriate to honor him by naming the new development Port Warwick. After the two met, Styron agreed to the idea, and he consented to putting his name on the central square as well. As months passed, Styron became increasingly interested in the project and ultimately came up with literary-themed suggestions for the names of every street in the development.
Another facet of the project was Freeman’s immersion into the world of outdoor public art when he began installing sculptures throughout Port Warwick. He traveled more than 20 times to Pietrasanta, Italy, between 2002 and 2010, meeting internationally known artists and commissioning sculptures. While initially the art was intended only for Port Warwick, he eventually began to acquire works for the Newport News Public Art Foundation. Today, 23 works of art are sited throughout the city, including five within Port Warwick.
Reflecting on the project’s success, Freeman says it is the community element that makes him proudest. In addition to the day-to-day connections of those who live, work and do business within Port Warwick, concerts and arts festivals and holiday celebrations draw people from Newport News and beyond throughout the year.
“The concert series started about 20 years ago,” Freeman says, “and we would have 50 or a hundred people. And it just grew. It’s a magnet for people. This is a community. It’s a neighborhood. It’s greater than the sum of all those bricks and mortar. That’s what makes you proud. That was the goal.”
TO THE POINT:
Port Warwick
Address: 191 Walt Whitman Ave., Newport News, VA 23606
Contact: Sandy Bridgman, Tower Park Corporation
Phone: 757-369-3045
Email: sbridgman@towerpar.com
Website: portwarwick.com
