Technical Reports, Community Design Assistance Center

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    Amonate, VA: Community Context and Resource Inventory
    Kakkadan, Sneha; Gleason, Harry; Gilboy, Elizabeth; Dupre, Karine; Rosier, Shaun; Tucker, Lisa; Thomas, Jenn; Munoz Vera, Gonzalo (Community Design Assistance Center, 2026-03-31)
    This project documents the past and present of Amonate, Virginia - a former Faraday and Pocahontas Fuel Company coal camp - and identifies actionable pathways for preservation, community revitalization, and rural tourism. Led by a team from Virginia Tech in collaboration with Amonate Always, Inc., the work synthesizes historical research, field documentation, and community engagement into a comprehensive inventory and a set of near and long-term recommendations. The effort was supported through an interdisciplinary team and multiple grants. Beside key findings related to the historical significance and physical pattern of Amonate, this report presents deliverables and recommendations. As such, this study equips Amonate with the documentation, evidence, and early ideas needed to preserve its coal-camp heritage, build community capacity, and pursue incremental, feasible economic activity aligned with regional tourism patterns. The partnership among Amonate Always, CDAC/Virginia Tech, Mid-Atlantic TAB, and regional/state agencies provides a durable framework to convert momentum into sustained revitalization.
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    Floyd, VA: Conceptual Redevelopment Plan for the Donnkenny Property
    Ekberg, Caitlyn; Gleason, Harry; Nagle, Lara; Gilboy, Elizabeth; Tucker, Lisa; Stephenson, Max (2026-03-31)
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    Harrisonburg, VA: Conceptual Downtown Master Planting Plan and Focus Area Designs
    Gilboy, Elizabeth; Gleason, Harry; Kakkadan, Sneha; Ekberg, Caitlyn (Community Design Assistance Center, 2026-04-30)
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    Amonate, VA: Calhoun Pocket Park Conceptual Design
    Gilboy, Elizabeth; Gleason, Harry; Ekberg, Caitlyn; Kakkadan, Sneha; Jain, Nidhi (Community Design Assistance Center, 2026-04-30)
    Amonate Always has been working with Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture, Arts, and Design (AAD), including the Community Design Assistance Center (CDAC), to improve the quality of life in the historic coal camp since 2024. After an extensive inventory of the town in 2025, the original parsonage site of the Amonate Methodist Church was identified as a suitable place for a pocket park. Amonate Always recently purchased the site and, since the house no longer remains, the community would like to create a small pocket park on the site for community use. Following an internal design charrette at CDAC in March of 2026, two preliminary design concepts were created and presented to the community on April 11, 2026. With feedback from this meeting, a final design concept was created and presented to Amonate Always and the community at the end of April 2026. This project is the first of many to be folded into a broader Community Revitalization Plan to be developed throughout 2026 for Amonate. The goal of the park, to be named Calhoun Park by local residents and those with ties to the camp, is to encourage healthy lifestyle habits like walking and play outside, protect pedestrians from street traffic, and create a community gathering space.
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    Covington, VA: Conceptual Redevelopment Plan for the Former Edgemont Primary School
    Gilboy, Elizabeth; Gleason, Harry; Tucker, Lisa; Jami, Raj Kumar; Ekberg, Caitlyn; Pothen, Sneha; Agrawal, Pranshu; Vandyke, Kiera (Community Design Assistance Center, 2026-05-29)
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    Amonate: A Coal Camp Through Time (Part II – a comprehensive inventory)
    Gilboy, Elizabeth; Gleason, Harry; Dupre, Karine; Kakkadan, Sneha; Muñoz-Vera, Gonzalo; Thomas, Jennifer; Tucker, Lisa; Rosier, Shaun; Ekberg, Caitlyn; McMahon, Carah; Dadd, Charlotte; Sincavage, Charlotte; Xiong, Jenny Xiqi; Meija, Ryan; Changani, Vaasav (Community Design Assistance Center, 2026-03-06)
    This project documents the past and present of Amonate, Virginia - a former Faraday and Pocahontas Fuel Company coal camp - and identifies actionable pathways for preservation, community revitalization, and rural tourism. Led by a team from Virginia Tech in collaboration with Amonate Always, Inc., the work synthesizes historical research, field documentation, and community engagement into a comprehensive inventory and a set of near and long-term recommendations. The effort was supported through an interdisciplinary team and multiple grants. Beside key findings related to the historical significance and physical pattern of Amonate, this report presents deliverables and recommendations. As such, this study equips Amonate with the documentation, evidence, and early ideas needed to preserve its coal-camp heritage, build community capacity, and pursue incremental, feasible economic activity aligned with regional tourism patterns. The partnership among Amonate Always, CDAC/Virginia Tech, Mid-Atlantic TAB, and regional/state agencies provides a durable framework to convert momentum into sustained revitalization.
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    St. Paul, VA: Riverside-Oxbow Trail Conceptual Site Design
    Gleason, Harry; Mahesh, Pratima (Community Design Assistance Center, 2025-09-30)
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    St Paul, VA: Riverside-Oxbow Trail Conceptual Site Design Executive Summary
    Gleason, Harry; Mahesh, Pratima (Community Design Assistance Center, 2025-09-30)
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    Pocahontas, VA: Conceptual Redevelopment Plan for the Fuel Building
    Vandyke, Kiera (Community Design Assistance Center, 2025-05-30)
    Pocahontas, Virginia, once a thriving center of coal mining in Tazewell County, is today a community deeply engaged in preserving its rich history. This report summarizes the conceptual vision for the revitalization of the historic Fuel Building, a notable structure within the Pocahontas Historic District. Located near the heart of Pocahontas, the Fuel Building was once part of the bustling industrial infrastructure that powered the town’s mining operations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Though no longer in active use, the building stands as a testament to the town’s legacy as the first coalfield town in Virginia, and as a symbol of the ingenuity and resilience that defined the region’s workforce and way of life. Spearheading efforts to preserve and reinterpret Pocahontas’ historical assets is Historical Pocahontas Incorporated (HPI), a dedicated community group that has long advocated for the conservation of the town’s architectural and cultural heritage. Their continued leadership and collaboration with local and state partners have been crucial in shaping the vision for the Fuel Building and other significant structures in the area. This report outlines Pocahontas’ historic significance, the background of the Fuel Building, and the collaborative planning process underway to develop a meaningful and sustainable future for this site—one that respects the town’s coal mining roots while creating new opportunities for education, tourism, and community engagement.
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    Pocahontas, VA: Conceptual Redevelopment Plan for the Fuel Building: Executive Summary
    Vandyke, Kiera (Community Design Assistance Center, 2025-05-30)
    Pocahontas, Virginia, once a thriving center of coal mining in Tazewell County, is today a community deeply engaged in preserving its rich history. This report summarizes the conceptual vision for the revitalization of the historic Fuel Building, a notable structure within the Pocahontas Historic District. Located near the heart of Pocahontas, the Fuel Building was once part of the bustling industrial infrastructure that powered the town’s mining operations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Though no longer in active use, the building stands as a testament to the town’s legacy as the first coalfield town in Virginia, and as a symbol of the ingenuity and resilience that defined the region’s workforce and way of life. Spearheading efforts to preserve and reinterpret Pocahontas’ historical assets is Historical Pocahontas Incorporated (HPI), a dedicated community group that has long advocated for the conservation of the town’s architectural and cultural heritage. Their continued leadership and collaboration with local and state partners have been crucial in shaping the vision for the Fuel Building and other significant structures in the area. This report outlines Pocahontas’ historic significance, the background of the Fuel Building, and the collaborative planning process underway to develop a meaningful and sustainable future for this site—one that respects the town’s coal mining roots while creating new opportunities for education, tourism, and community engagement.
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    Clinchco, VA: Conceptual Greenspace Master Plan
    Harrington, Hayley (2024-02-29)
    The Town of Clinchco, Virginia is a small community of about 350 people located in north-central Dickenson County along the McClure River and near the Kentucky and West Virginia state lines. It is presently accessed by Routes 63 and 83, which pass through the town. Clinchco started as a coal mining town in the late 1800s. The town was built by the Clinchfield Coal Corporation to support their mining efforts and later founded in 1917. As part of the establishment of the town, Clinchfield Coal Corporation constructed well-built homes for the workers. Like many coal communities, the mines attracted workers from all over the world. Other early industries included lumbering for the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company and building the railroad. Clinchco reached peak population and economic success in the 1940s. During this time the streets would be packed on Saturdays when people from Clinchco and nearby communities would come into town. This boom continued until the 1950s when the decline began. Clinchco is striving to move forward, “reconstructing itself” for a better future. A significant percentage of Clinchco’s buildings are located in the floodplain, and ten property owners agreed to participate in a FEMA project that would remove their homes. CDAC worked with the Town to create a greenspace master plan utilizing these spaces.
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    Narrows, VA: Mill Creek Nature Park Trailhead Conceptual Site Master Plan
    Harrington, Hayley (2024-03-29)
    Narrows, Virginia is a small community of about 2,000 people located in Giles County off of Route 460 and near the narrowing of the New River. Within the mountains of Narrows is Mill Creek Nature Park, a park of about 145-acres. The park, which adjoins Jefferson National Forest, includes several trails of varying lengths for hiking and mountain biking as well as two waterfalls. The park also offers the opportunity to fish for native trout. The trailhead for the park is about 1-acre and includes two parking areas, one of which is bordered by boulders on one side to keep vehicles away from overhead power lines, a picnic shelter with 4 picnic tables, a kiosk, a porta potty, and a gate for maintenance vehicle access. The town would like improve the trailhead to make it more visually appealing, plan for additional parking in the future, and make the trailhead more functional. Initial ideas for improvements included park entry signage, wayfinding signage and branding for trails, installing a new single stall restroom in a different location than the porta potty, creating a formal path from the parking areas to the trails and the new restroom, landscaping with native plant materials, expanded parking for in the future, and the ability for one or two buses to be able to park and turn around.
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    Castlewood, VA: Conceptual Redevelopment Plan for the Mudhole Store
    Harrington, Hayley (2024-02-29)
    Castlewood is an unincorporated community located in northwest Russell County with approximately 1,700 residents (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). The community was originally named Castle’s Woods after Jacob Castle, who first arrived in the area around 1750. Castlewood was the first settlement in Russell County, and its first permanent residents arrived in 1769. Daniel Boone and his family also lived in Castle’s Woods between 1773 and 1775. The Mudhole Store site is located at 776 Red Oak Ridge Road at the intersection of Red Oak Ridge Road and Reeds Valley Road. The site consists of several properties owned by Charles Bickley “Bick” and Judith “Judy” Gibson amounting to approximately 13 acres. The former filling station located onsite was built in the 1950s and is located on a parcel of about .31 acres. There were two pumps and the tanks are likely still located underground. The station also served as a convenience store. The historic egg house, located about 120 feet east of the current gas station building, was built between 1930 and 1950 and historically used to store and trade eggs.
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    Castlewood, VA: Conceptual Redevelopment Plan for the Mudhole Store Executive Summary
    Harrington, Hayley (2024-02-29)
    Castlewood is an unincorporated community located in northwest Russell County with approximately 1,700 residents (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). The community was originally named Castle’s Woods after Jacob Castle, who first arrived in the area around 1750. Castlewood was the first settlement in Russell County, and its first permanent residents arrived in 1769. Daniel Boone and his family also lived in Castle’s Woods between 1773 and 1775. The Mudhole Store site is located at 776 Red Oak Ridge Road at the intersection of Red Oak Ridge Road and Reeds Valley Road. The site consists of several properties owned by Charles Bickley “Bick” and Judith “Judy” Gibson amounting to approximately 13 acres. The former filling station located onsite was built in the 1950s and is located on a parcel of about .31 acres. There were two pumps and the tanks are likely still located underground. The station also served as a convenience store. The historic egg house, located about 120 feet east of the current gas station building, was built between 1930 and 1950 and historically used to store and trade eggs.