Downtown Colonial Beach Awarded a $50,000 Virginia Main Street Downtown Investment Grant (DIG)

For Immediate Release: October 7, 2026

Colonial Beach, VA – Governor Abigail Spanberger announced today that Downtown Colonial Beach (DCB) is the recipient of a Downtown Investment Grant (DIG) in the amount of $50,000. The Downtown Investment Grant program supports revitalization projects in downtown communities across the Commonwealth.

As a new member of the Advancing Virginia Main Street network, and a recently accredited Main Street America program, DCB was eager to create the award-winning project -- “Cars, Carts and Creative Charm,” which is a multifaceted effort designed to highlight the diverse assets of our Designated Main Street District through the introduction of wayfinding, placemaking and streetscape enhancements. DCB began working on the project shortly after it received the Advancing Virginia Main Street certification in 2025, and the grant application was submitted following the accreditation of the program at the Main Street American annual conference earlier this year.

“We envision this project to cohesively knit together our ‘dog leg’-shaped district in a fun, adventuresome way that highlights our nearly 135-year history as a visitor destination,” said DCB President Kelly Woods Vaughn. “Since its founding in 1892, Colonial Beach has experienced many phases in its economy that have prompted the town to reinvent itself time and again. In designing ‘Cars, Carts and Creative Charm,’ DCB also saw the value in using the project to demonstrate the ‘power of Main Street’ and enlist an extensive group of citizens to help, while learning about the Main Street Approach hands-on.”

Following the successful release of the Downtown Colonial Beach Connectivity Study, DCB incorporated a number of recommendations from that document into the DIG project, most notably those related to wayfinding and streetscape. The DIG project will bring a new mural, six informational kiosks and two golf cart LOVEworks to Colonial Beach.

Now that the DIG grant has been awarded, DCB is jumping into action by implementing those elements:

1. Transforming the “cartoon map,” designed by Richmond artist Rachel Loughlin, into the engaging wayfinding kiosks and enlisting local historian and artist Kellie Yeatman in the creation of “postcards” to appear on the reverse side of three (3) of them. The first of the kiosks will be located at 800 Colonial Avenue and be situated with the second “Colonial Beach Main Street Community” sign and the third “Welcome to Colonial Beach” gateway sign.

2. Creating a new mural to celebrate Colonial Beach’s “Cars, Carts and Creative Charm” at the gateway entrance to Colonial Avenue and the Main Street district.

3. Ordering and installing provenance signage at “The Visitors” statue so folks will better understand the historical importance the statue represents, as well as installing another kiosk nearby.

4. Replicating the original golf cart LOVEworks sign at Town Pier where another kiosk will be located,

5. Installing two other kiosks next to the For Immediate Release: October 7, 2026

6. Transforming the second golf cart into a fun and fanciful LOVEworks sign that will reside at CB Creative on Washington Avenue.

7. Installing the final kiosk on the south side of Town Pier.

All work is expected to be completed by early Spring 2027. To learn more about the DIG grant, “Cars, Carts and Creative Charm” and the Main Street program, visit our Web Site: www.downtowndolonialbeach.org.