Ridley Circle and the Marshall-Ridley Choice Neighborhood Initiative (CNI)

Ridley Circle

Ridley Circle was an apartment building constructed in 1954 and located between Jefferson and Ivy Avenues, one block away from Dominion Terminal Associates in Southeast Newport News. Ridley Circle was the oldest public housing project in Newport News, had fallen into severe disrepair, and was demolished in 2022.

Ridley Circle was named after John Hoskins Ridley (1872–1943), who worked at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company as a laborer and ultimately as Chief Steward. Ridley helped bring Huntington High School to Newport News, a secondary school for African American students, and was a co-founder of the Crown Savings Bank, a Black-owned bank established in 1905.

Ridley Circle was located in the Marshall-Ridley neighborhood, which had been home to Black shipyard workers and administrators in the early 20^th century. Because of its large African American population, the neighborhood was redlined in the 1930s by the Home Owner's Loan Corporation (HOLC) leading to disinvestment and decline in the area. This was made worse by racial segregation and white flight following the consolidation of Newport News with Warwick.

Coal Dust Pollution and Activism

Mrs. Louise Bazemore, a resident of Ridley Circle, was a leading activist for coal dust mitigation in the 1980s. [there is more to add here]

Marshall-Ridley Choice Neighborhood Initiative (CNI)

Choice Neighborhoods is a grant program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The program awards grants to localities to support the development of sustainable, mixed-income communities with access to economic opportunities.

Newport News received a $500,000 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant in 2016 and a $30 million Implementation Grant in 2019 to build more types of housing and improve access to community services, recreational spaces, and parks on and around the land of the former Ridley Circle residences in Southeast Newport News. Known as the Marshall-Ridley Choice Neighborhood Initiative (CNI), the effort is not only focused on housing and parks but also on improving access to health services and early childhood education, reducing food insecurity, and providing career training and more employment opportunities.

As a first step in the CNI, the Newport News Redevelopment & Housing Authority (NNRHA) surveyed residents to identify community priorities and concerns.

With its demolition, residents of Ridley Circle were moved into other public housing residences and others provided with housing vouchers. It is likely that not all former Ridley Circle residents with vouchers will qualify to move into the new homes once they are complete. For example, residents will need to show proof of employment.

Tim Robinson, Former Ridley Circle Resident: "My concern is, I hope when they bring the new Ridley Circle back, they bring the people from Ridley Circle back. Don't take us away from where we came from. If you can build it up, bring us back. Let it be ours, not someone else's."

Donquitta Clements Interviewed by Adrian Wood in Crosswinds: "How do you go tell a group of people that think they’re coming home that they don’t have a home to come home to, but when they ride through their neighborhood, there’s new homes. If you’re telling us that this neighborhood is for the re- the people who lived here and they, you know, all their blood, sweat, and tears in their community, but then you turn around and 80% of them can’t come back cuz they don’t qualify or some parameter. I hate to say it, but it seems created. It feels definitely intentional."

Current Progress

In 2025, the Newport News Redevelopment & Housing Authority (NNRHA) and City of Newport News officials held ribbon cutting ceremonies for the Newport News Early Childhood Development Center, which will provide education for around 200 children, and Legacy Landing, a mixed-income housing development in Newport News.

Coal Dust Is an Ongoing Issue

Newport News officials have no plans to address coal dust pollution as part of the CNI. The Marshall-Ridley CNI Frequently Asked Questions webpage responds to three coal dust-related questions as quoted below:

Is the coal terminal in compliance with air quality regulations?: The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) administers state and federal laws and regulations for air quality, water quality, water supply and land protection. It is responsible for issuing environmental permits to businesses throughout Virginia, and regulating compliance to protect people and the environment. To find out more about a permitted facility or specific regulations, go to www.deq.virginia.gov or call the Tidewater Regional Office at 757-518-2000.

Did air pollution factor into the decision not to rebuild on the Harbor Homes/Dickerson Courts site?: Air pollution did not factor into the decision to demolish Harbor Homes and Dickerson Courts. HUD approved demolition of the apartments because the units were obsolete and the cost to modernize them far exceeded the cost of new construction, along with the fact that the housing density was at least 2 to 5 times the recommended density for affordable housing. All the information we have about air quality in the area indicates that it meets DEQ standards.

What are the air quality regulations?: The state air pollution control board establishes and oversees regulations for the control and abatement of air pollution throughout Virginia. Information on air quality regulations are found at: www.deq.virginia.gov/programs/air or through the Tidewater Regional Office at 757-518-2000.

These responses do not directly respond to the concerns, only point people toward the website (link is broken) of Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VA DEQ) and policies of the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board (APCB). Former residents of Harbor Homes and Dickerson Courts have claimed that coal dust pollution contributed to the demolition of the apartment buildings.

Sheila McAllister, Director of City Planning for the City of Newport News, Interviewed by Adrian Wood in Crosswinds: "[Harbor Homes and Dickerson Courts were] old. It could not be rebuilt. And because of the proximity to—I'm not going to say proximity to the coal yard, but people did not like being that close to the coal yard. And we didn't like people being that close to the coal yard."

Concerns from residents about coal dust and the CNI are in the public record, for example:

Ernest Thompson during Public Comment at Newport News City Council, June 12, 2018: "I've spoke to numerous city officials about this coal dust over here. Across from the CNI community. And everybody tries to tell me, well, you know, it meets certain demands. It does this, it does that. If you live there, you suck dust. You wipe it off your house every day. I own the property down there. I power wash it, two weeks later it's black again. I hope and pray that City Council will at least commission something, even though studies have been done. If we’re going to have open air restaurants downtown and invite people down to eat. Nobody wants to pick up their fork and eat coal dust. Something can be done and it should be done. And I hope and pray that council will some kind of way figure out how to address that concern, where the citizens of the East End of downtown Newport News have been breathing that stuff in since long before I was born."

Donquitta Clements Interviewed by Adrian Wood in Crosswinds: "I don't think they understand the severity of what they're coming to because it's shiny. In the beginning it's, oh, look at the new house. Look at the new neighborhood. Granted, Newport News is a wonderful city to live in. It's a wonderful city, but that's still something that's harming us as a people. Period. It doesn't matter about your race, your, your class, you're going to be affected. Your plants will be dusty. Your house will be dusty. You're outside—you will constantly be sweeping and mopping and power washing. And most importantly to me, your health will be affected by it. And they're gonna be coming in by the droves, but they have no idea that there’s this situation that's awaiting them."

Neighborhood Leadership Institute (NLI)

As part of the CNI, the City of Newport News established the Neighborhood Leadership Institute (NLI), a free leadership development program. The program includes 12 weeks of classes discussing general leadership skills, as well as specific topics such as city budgeting and how to pitch a project idea to the City of Newport News. For more information or to join, call 757-926-8081.

Documents

• Neighborhood Leadership Institute (NLI) Curriculum, CNI and the City of Newport News, Undated