PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The sounds of demolition now echo along Portsmouth's Elizabeth River waterfront, where crews are tearing down the city's old jail and courthouse complex, a moment years in the making that city leaders say marks the beginning of a new chapter for downtown Portsmouth.
Mayor Shannon Glover called it emotional.
"It's finally seeing a dream come true," Glover said, watching demolition equipment work behind him. "We've talked about this for a number of years, moving forward with demolishing the courthouse complex, moving the jail off of the waterfront."
The jail, built in the 1960s, sat on prime waterfront real estate near City Hall for decades. Long before demolition crews arrived, city leaders and residents alike recognized the facility had become a problem, aging, deteriorating, and occupying some of the most valuable land in Portsmouth.
The breaking point came when the city commissioned a series of professional assessments examining the structural integrity, environmental safety, and mechanical condition of the facility. The findings were stark.
In a letter to Portsmouth City Council, then-City Manager Lydia Pettis Patton wrote that the jail and its ancillary offices, which included the Police Record Unit, Property and Evidence Unit, and City Records, were housed in a building "over 50 years old" that had "reached the end of its useful service life."
"The building is unsafe and unsuitable for human habitation," Patton wrote.
The complex was condemned. All personnel were ordered to evacuate. At the time of the condemnation, 258 inmates and 80 deputies, including medical staff, were housed in the facility.
The condemnation did not go smoothly.
Portsmouth Sheriff Michael Moore pushed back publicly, issuing a statement on Facebook calling the situation the result of the city's "failure to properly maintain the City Jail."
"The city has a history of neglecting city-owned structures," Moore wrote, citing Willet Hall, the Police Administration building, Portside, schools, recreation centers, and the Pavilion as examples. "I have exhausted every effort to encourage the city to be more than an absentee landlord."
Moore warned that closing the jail would put more than 130 sheriff's deputies out of work, along with more than 60 contractors, and said he would "review every legal recourse" to address the relocation effort.
A legal challenge followed. A judge temporarily stayed the condemnation order, and both sides were ordered back to court.
Former Portsmouth Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke also expressed frustration with how the situation was handled, saying she was "disappointed that a reasonably timed planned meeting with the Sheriff was not able to occur."
"Someone in City Management and Engineering had to know and realize that the Civic Center Complex, specifically the City Jail, was in this level of unsafe occupancy before yesterday," Lucas-Burke said at the time.
While the legal and political battles played out, the city was already working on a solution for where to house inmates.
Portsmouth set its sights on the former Hampton Roads Regional Jail on Elmhurst Lane, which had closed on April 1. Moseley Architects was brought in to study the site and assess what modifications would be needed.
"We sat down with the sheriff's office and said, 'Is this going to work for you? Are you going to be able to house inmates with this? What modifications would you need?" said David Hackworth of Moseley Architects. "So from that, we put this plan together."
The plan called for modifying jail pods for different custody levels and adding video arraignment space. The total cost — including purchasing the building, making updates, and a contingency came to roughly $45 million.
Portsmouth Councilman Mark Hugel urged the city to move quickly on the transition.
"My concern is buildings don't like to be empty, they start to fall apart pretty quickly," Hugel said. "So it seems to me the sooner we can move into the jail and start using the jail as our jail, like it was being used as the regional jail, the better off we'll be."
With inmates relocated, attention turned to tearing down the old facility. City leaders initially announced plans to implode the building, with Mayor Glover saying at the Portsmouth State of the City address that the city anticipated an implosion in late 2025 or early 2026.
That plan was ultimately abandoned.
City Manager Steven Carter said the city reconsidered after consulting with military officials, who raised concerns about the jail's proximity to military facilities and other nearby structures.
"There's asbestos and other materials in that building that we can't just tear it down because it would make those things available in our air," Carter said. "So we have a team of individuals that have to go inside and remove all of those types of things from the building before we can bring the building down."
Instead of an implosion, crews began a slower, more methodical process known as abatement, working from the inside out to remove hazardous materials like asbestos before any structural demolition could safely begin. Carter said the entire demolition process is expected to take about a year.
Water Street remains closed between the parking garage and City Hall while work continues.
For Mayor Glover, the demolition is not just about tearing something down; it is about what gets built in its place.
"As the chief visionary officer of the city of Portsmouth, I've been to a lot of places, and I know that our waterfront and our water views are spectacular," Glover said. "To have something here that enhances that, that gives people the opportunity to come down and enjoy the water, the view, to live here, to eat here, to shop here, to have business here, that's what we endeavor to create right in this spot."
Glover said the city is already in conversations with potential developers and described the process of attracting investment as beginning "immediately." He said the city is open to anyone who brings the right resources and vision for the site.
"Anyone who's interested, we're always open for a conversation," Glover said.
The mayor also described a broader vision for the area, an arts district that celebrates Portsmouth's maritime history, its identity as a military city, and its cultural heritage.
"Portsmouth is on the move," Glover said. "We're creating an arts district that focuses on cultural exposure, creativity that brings people to our city and really celebrates those resources, our history, our maritime history, also the fact that we're a military city."
At least one longtime Portsmouth resident watching the demolition said the moment was long overdue.
Vanessa Hassell, who has lived in Portsmouth since she was 15, said she was glad to see the jail come down, and not just because of what might replace it.
As for what she hopes to see built on the waterfront, Hassell had a clear vision.
"I think that spot would be nice to have a hotel, right there by the waterfront, and maybe a restaurant," she said. "I think it would be nice there."
She also said the redevelopment could be a boost for the broader community.
"It'll be more jobs for the people, and people that come out of town, they've got somewhere to stay nice," Hassell said. "I think it's a good thing."
While the vision for Portsmouth's waterfront is taking shape, key details remain unresolved. The city has not yet announced a specific redevelopment plan or selected a developer for the site.
What is clear is that city leaders view this moment as a turning point.
"This is why you do what you do," Glover said. "I got into this line of work because I wanted to make a difference, not only in individual people's lives but in how this city is shaped and the future of our city."
Click here to see how we use AI at WTKR News 3.
