In the 1950s and 60s, new car dealerships beckoned buyers along Norfolk’s “Auto Row,” and travelers came and went from the sleek Greyhound Bus Station. The original structure was designed by William Strudwick Arrasmith in the Streamline Moderne Style he made famous in the 1930s and 40s.
The Greyhounds stopped coming and going from the station some years ago, but a plan to reimagine the property will create new destinations and honor multiple histories of the site. Arrasmith’s original structure was demolished in the 60s, and replaced with the current building, designed by Norfolk architect Clarence W. Meekin, winner of the 1983 AIA Distinguished Service Award. The new project will honor both building designs and pay homage to Freedom Riders, who rode interstate buses into the South to protest segregation. Norfolk was not on the Freedom Rider route, but its newly desegregated bus station, a result of a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Boynton v. Virginia, represented freedom for the community.
The new design incorporates the original wall along Brambleton to create a plinth for the new five-story structure and a screen wall with views into urban gardens for two-story live-work lofts. Street level spaces will include an art gallery, a large community room, native plant gardens, a courtyard, and more. A second-story dog park celebrates the original hounds.
Houndstooth will serve as the gateway to the NEON District and honor SCOPE Arena, one of our beloved and most significant Norfolk architectural gems.
