About
Project Background
The Training Center is located in Amherst County on 350 acres of land overlooking the James River and adjacent to Downtown Lynchburg. The site closed July 2020. At its peak, the site employed over 1,600 regional citizens and created a $25.1 million impact on Amherst County, $62 million impact on surrounding areas for a total regional impact of $87.1 million.
The Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance is the regional chamber of commerce and economic development organization, the preeminent regional business organization focused on growing and sustaining the region. The leadership of the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance and the Central Virginia Planning District Commission have designated the redevelopment of the Training Center as a regional priority convening public and private partners to champion this opportunity.
As such, the following localities are financially active partners in regional economic development initiatives: Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford and Campbell Counties, the towns of Amherst, Altavista, Appomattox and the City of Lynchburg.
About the Training Center
Located in central Virginia, the Training Center in Madison Heights, Amherst, County Virginia on 350 acres of land overlooking the James River and immediately adjacent to downtown Lynchburg, Virginia.
Originally developed in 1910, the site was used as an asylum where eugenics was researched. By 1954, the facility name was changed to the Lynchburg Training School and Hospital and focused on education and caring for residents.
More positive changes occurred in 1983, when the facility was renamed the Central Virginia Training Center and was the largest of the five Commonwealth facilities providing care to disabled and mentally ill residents. The state owned facility closed in 2020.
Before the facility closed it had 98 buildings with approximately six buildings still operational, supporting 47 residents with 215 jobs. We have the opportunity to reinvent this site and overcome the storied history that leaves this location underutilized today.
Why are we Redeveloping this Site?
Attract Development
A redevelopment plan will allow the potential developers to imagine the future of the Training Center.
Avoid Blight
The Training Center could become a blighted area that would create social and economic challenges for Amherst County, Downtown Lynchburg and the surrounding counties.
Economic Prosperity
Identify the highest and best use of the Training Center to setup the region for economic prosperity and increase regional viability.
The Team
Training Center Advisory Group
Fred Armstrong, Wiley i Wilson
Robert Arnold, Amherst County
Terry Austin, Virginia House of Delegates
L. J. Ayers, Amherst County
Robert Barnes, VDOT District
Victoria Bartholomew, Downtown Lynchburg Association
Traci Blido, Bedford Economic Development Assoication
Ben Bowman, Central Virginia Workforce Development Board
Jeremy Bryant, Amherst County
Kathy Byron, Virginia House of Delegates
Rob Campbell, James River Association
Ronnie Campbell, Virginia House of Delegates
John Capps, Central Virginia Community College
Sara Carter, Town of Amherst
Gary Christie, Central Virginia Planning District Commission
Waverly Coggsdale, Town of Altavista
Mike Cook, Strategic Doers Group
David Cook, Virginia Department of Transportation
David Corry, Liberty University
Kenneth Craig, Liberty University
Beverley Dalton, Town of Altavista
Joseph Damico, Virginia Department of General Services
Ron Davia, DBHDS Office of A&E Services
Paul Denham, Southern Air, Inc.
Lauren Dianich, Atelier 11 Architecture, LTD
MaryJane Dolan, City of Lynchburg
Patrick Dreher, Amherst County
Luke Dykeman, Coldwell Banker Commercial Read and Co.
Chad Eby, Hermle
Brooke Eby, Amherst County
Michael Elliott, CENTRA
Doug Eubank, Doug Eubank, Jr., CPA
Holly Eve, Virginia Department of General Services
Chris Faraldi, City of Lynchburg
Matt Fariss, Virginia House of Delegates
Brandon Farmer, Bank of the James
Watt Foster, Foster Fuels, Inc.
Jennifer Foster, Foster Fuels, Inc.
Tracie Gallahan, First National Bank
Rex Geveden, BWX Technologies, Inc.
Victoria Glasgow, City of Lynchburg
Jamie Glass, Lynchburg Regional Busines Alliance
Bill Guzek, Center for Advanced Engineering and Research
Richard Hall, Central Virginia Training Center
Aubrey Hall, First National Bank
William Hansen, Hansen Realty
Victoria Hanson, Amherst County Economic Development
Jeff Helgeson, City of Lynchburg
Dave Henderson, The Water Dog
Robert Hiss, Bedford County
Kelly Hitchcock, RIDE Solutions
Christina Holmes, Keller Williams, Blue Ridge Group
Hugh Hubinger, Virginia Department of General Services
Lauren Huffman, Amherst County Chamber of Commerce
Darryl Huften, Apple Ford
Larry Jackson, Appalachian Power
Wiley Johnson, III, Hurt and Proffitt, Inc.
Brandon Jones, Pacific Life
Chris Jones, Lynchburg Hillcats
George Kayes, ABC 13
Stephanie Keener, Small Business Development Center
Sabrina Kennon, Amherst County Chamber of Commerce
Calvin Kennon, Specialty Exterminating Co.
Ashley Kershner, Downtown Lynchburg Association
Nancy Kirt, Amherst County Chamber of Commerce
Matthew Klein, Lynchburg Hillcats
Dennis Knight, Wiley l Wilson
Stephen Lamanna, Truist Commerical
Sandy Lawrence, Innovative Wireless Technologies
Todd Leap, Bailey Grey
John Loftus, Virginia Economic Development Partnership
William Lovern, The Global Volunteer Partnership
Nathaniel Marshall, BWX Technologies, Inc.
Tom Martin, Amherst County
Ruth Martineau, Community Maps
Katie Mayo, Amherst County Chamber of Commerce
Rob McClintock, Virginia Economic Development Partnership
Ryan McEntire, Brown, Edwards, and Company, LLP
Patrick McNamara, MaxPlayFit, LLC
Chet McPhatter, Banker Stell Company, LLC
Anne McVeigh, Davenport and Company, LLC
Floyd Merryman, Sonny Merryman
Dave Midkiff, Stifel
Karl Miller, Mark A. Dalton and Co., Inc.
Kelly Mirt, The News and Advance
Louise Mitchell, The Credit Connection
Rebekah Moody, Southern Provisions Company
Chad Mooney, Petty, Livingston, Dawson and Richards, PC
Jennifer Moore, Amherst County
Andrew Mueller, CENTRA
Andrew Neiderer, MontVue Capital Management
J. Randolph Nelson, City of Lynchburg
Steve Newman, Virginia Senate
Robert O'Brian, Lynchburg Ready Mix Concrete Co., Inc.
Melissa Ogden, Amherst County Chamber of Commerce
L. Kimball Payne, L. Kimball Payne
Mark Peake, Virginia Senate
Donald Pendleton, Consensus Real Estate Services, LLC
Tray Petty, Moore and Giles
Randy Pirtle, Blue Ridge Medical Center
Andrew Proctor, Amherst County
John Provo, Virginia Tech
David Pugh, Amherst County
John Putney, Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance
Angela Reed, Greif Paper Packaging
James Richards, Petty, Livingston, Dawson and Richards, PC
Dean Rodgers, Amherst County
Tom Rogers, Sweet Briar College
Frank Rogers, Campbell County
Michael Russell, Amherst County
Doug Schuch, Bedford County Schools
J. Court Shipman, Esq., Gentry Locke Attorneys
Jennifer Slightham, 434 Marketing
Dorie Smiley, Academy of Fine Arts
Aaron Smith, University of Lynchburg, HR
John Smolak, Appalachian Power
Georgeann Snead, Electronic Design and Manufacturing Company
Eric Sorenson, Woods Rogers PLC
William Speidell, The Speidell Group
Lisa Stinnette, Commercial Steel Erection, Inc.
John Stone, CFA, Stifel
Mark Strosnider, Frontier Community Bank
Ben Summers, S&S Machine, Inc. TRU Ball
Bonnie Svrcek, City of Lynchburg
Daniel Sweeney, Attorney
Gerry Swienton, Investment Leadership, LLC
Lisa Tomlin, BWX Technologies, Inc.
Luke Towles, Pinnacle Financial Partners
Bill Tucker, Tucker Family Farms
Claudia Tucker, Amherst County
Treney Tweedy, City of Lynchburg
Marjette Upshur, Economic Development City of Lynchburg
Ashley Rae Vaughan, Wells Fargo
Wendell Walker, Virginia House of Delegates
David Wall, Amherst County
Ryan Webb, Rehab Associates of Central Virginia
Ryan White, American National Bank and Trust Company
Sterling Wilder, City of Lynchburg
Chris Winstead, Virginia Department of Transportation
Gloria Witt, Define Success Coaching and Facilitation
Reid Wodicka, City of Lynchburg
Denise Woernle, Framatome
Beau Wright, City of Lynchburg
Training Center Leadership Committee
Kim Payne, GO Virginina Representative
Bif Johnson, Hurt & Proffitt, Inc.
Lauren Dianich, Atelier 11 Architecture
Kelly Hitchcock, RIDE Solutions, Agency of Region 2000 Local Government Council
Chad Eby, Amherst County
Gloria Witt, Hermle and AEDA Chair
Victoria Hansen, Amherst County, EDA
Dean Rogers, Amherst County
Marjette Upshur, City of Lynchburg, EDA
Megan Lucas, Lynchburg Regional Alliance
Jamie Glass, Lynchburg Regional Alliance
John Putney, Lynchburg Regional Alliance
Timeline
The project with GO Virginia approval and will take approximately eight months to complete.
Funding
The Alliance received a GO Virginia grant in the amount of $100,000 to assist in the execution of a redevelopment plan. The grant is being matched by the Central Viginia Planning District Commission, Amherst County, and the Amherst County Economic Development Administration.