NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — An old Greyhound bus station in Norfolk is set to become a new center for visual and culinary arts at Tidewater Community College.
The college announced Wednesday that Norfolk City Council approved its agreement with TCC to acquire the old station on Monticello Avenue.
TCC is planning to turn the old building into the Patricia and Douglas Perry TCC Center for Visual & Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management. The city, meanwhile, will be relocating the current Greyhound operation to the downtown transit station.
Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander announced the project during his State of the City address in March.
“This is an incredible opportunity to build on the vibrancy and opportunity that is being created in the NEON District,” Alexander said in his speech.
TCC President Edna V. Baehre-Kolovani said in a statement Wednesday, “We are proud to partner with Mayor Alexander and the City of Norfolk to light up the NEON District with this project. As one of the anchors in the NEON District, we will be creating a destination not only for students, but for visitors as well.”
With the Perry center, TCC is expected to add fiber arts, jewelry and papermaking to its visual arts programs — and expand its culinary arts program from two kitchens to five. A new Restaurant Management program — which TCC is introducing this fall — will be housed in the new 47,000 square foot center.
In addition, Patricia and Douglas Perry are gifting their Glass Wheel Studio to the college — where TCC plans to locate its public gallery and studio arts programs. TCC is also planning on creating new partnerships with the Chrysler Museum, Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University.