A historic dam in Danville will soon be part of the past once the city hires a contractor to complete work on the project.
The city is seeking bids for the demolition of the Long Mill Dam, a move that has been met with disparate opinions on whether it is the right choice.
The structure, previously referred to in city documents as the “White Mill Dam” in a nod to its adjacency to and association with Dan River Mills property “Mill No. 8,” spans the river between Mill No. 8, now known as residential project Dan River Falls, and the city’s YMCA facility at 1,144 feet with an approximate height of five feet.
As reported by the Star-Tribune in 2016, the dam is contained within a historic district, designated in 2000 by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, known as Dan River Inc. Riverside Division Historic District.
The district begins just upstream of the Union Street Dam and immediately downstream of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge. It includes all of the Dan River in that segment as well as portions of land that extend to Canal Street and Riverside Drive.
State-level historic designation does not protect the dam from demolition, but it does recognize it and other assets within the perimeter of the register such as railroad beds, bridges, and a covered pedestrian/motorized vehicle bridge that used to connect mill buildings on either side of the river.
The nomination document filed to receive historic designation for the district cites the scenic value of that portion of the Dan River, making specific mention to “tree-lined banks, beds of aquatic grasses, and numerous rocky islets.”
This is not the first effort to remove the low-head dam over the past decade.
In 2016, Danville City Council considered, and ultimately rejected, a proposal to remove the dam.
At that time, the removal of the dam was estimated to cost $107,000.
In 2022, City Council voted to remove the Long Mill/White Mill Dam. It’s a five-foot-high, 1,150-foot-wide low-head dam built in 1894 by Dan River Mills to power The Long Mill on the north side of the Dan River, and the White Mill on the south side.
In February, city council voted to apply for a matching grant of a half million dollars through the Virginia Dam Safety, Flood Prevention, and Protection Assistance Fund.
Danville Vice Mayor Gary Miller said public safety and flooding concerns are why he voted to remove the dam.
“With the Dan River Falls construction project going on and the Riverfront Park, the river is finally going to be used after all these years,” Miller said during a city council meeting. “That dam is an impediment so we have to get it moved to see these projects through to completion.”
Councilman Lee Vogler opposed removal two years ago, and he still had concerns in February.
“I’m all for river recreation and safety, I just still have serious concerns about what the depth of the river is going to be. When I’ve asked about it in the past I was never given a clear answer,” Vogler said. “I still worry that when this dam is removed we are going to have a very shallow river with a whole lot of rocks down there, and it will not be this recreational utopia that we’re telling people it’s going to be.”
Comments received by the City of Danville in 2016 regarding the dam's potential removal focused on safety, recreation, restoring the river to its natural state, tourism, the beauty of the dam, impacts on ecology, and the geographic profile of the river at the dam's location, and advice not to try to make the Dan River into Smith Mountain Lake. Of the 16 comments, 69 percent were marked in favor of removing the dam, 25 percent were marked in favor of keeping it, and six percent supported adding a rock ramp for canoeing.
When asked whether an environmental impact study had been conducted on the demolition project, Danville Parks and Recreation Project Manager Andrew Hall said it was not necessary.
“The dam removal project doesn’t involve adding material to a Waters of the US (e.g. stream, wetlands, rivers, etc.) but instead involves removing a structure, therefor an Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Study is not required,” Hall said in an email from the city. “We have been working with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources and have identified that freshwater mussels have been deposited in the river. We have completed hydrological analyses to determine the best steps to remove the dam without causing disturbance to fish and wildlife. We are scheduling the work to be completed in certain times of the year, so we do not impact the freshwater mussels or the striped bass that are in the Dan River.”
According to bid solicitation IFB- 23-24-095 Long Mill Dam Removal, the city expects work to begin on the dam’s demolition on July 1 and conclude 60 calendar days after issuing a “Notice to Proceed.”
Barring delays, the 130-year-old Long Mill Dam could be gone by the first of September.
