Isle of Wight County expects to break ground this summer on a sidewalk extension from the 400 block of Main Street to Westside Elementary, regardless of whether Smithfield’s Town Council votes to accept a $6 million donation from former Smithfield Foods Chairman Joseph Luter III.
The donation, according to Smithfield Mayor Steve Bowman, would fund a brick wall and welcome sign marking the western entrance to the town’s historic district, and brick sidewalks spanning the 500 block of Main Street, in town-owned right-of-way bordering the 57-acre site where Luter’s son, Joseph Luter IV, is developing the 267-home Grange at 10Main subdivision that proposes a restaurant, hotel and retail space. Luter III’s donation is conditioned on the town matching the amount dollar for dollar, moving its farmers market to the Grange, extending brick sidewalks to the site and facilitating parking at the Grange for Main Street Baptist Church.
According to county Transportation Administrator Jamie Oliver, Isle of Wight has submitted its final construction documents to the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration and is awaiting approval to advertise the project for contractor bids. The nearly $1.5 million county-administered project, which is largely funded with federal grant money, is on track to break ground late this summer and complete construction by the end of winter, Oliver said.