Sep 16, 2026 - News

What Richmonders will see at Brown's Island's reopening next month

Karri Peifer

Sunny day at a construction site with two tall buildings on the left, an elevated highway across the middle, a green lawn in the foreground, and heavy machinery on the right under a blue sky. — The Friday Cheers stage will sit in front of this new loading dock. Photo: Karri Peifer/Axios

Brown's Island's years-in-the-making glow-up is nearly complete, and Richmonders will get to see the progress for themselves at next month's Folk Festival.

Why it matters: Locals can wander the island for the first time in nearly a year and see how the $30 million makeover is taking shape.

Aerial view of a riverfront construction site: excavators and dirt around a new building with a gravel roof; a grassy area, trees, orange safety cones, and a railway bridge in the foreground. — A drone view of Brown's Island taken on Sept. 14. Image: Courtesy of Venture Richmond

State of play: Brown's Island, closed since mid-November, will reopen Oct. 9-11 for the Richmond Folk Festival, Venture Richmond president and CEO Lisa Sims said during a hard-hat tour Wednesday.

It'll close again after the festival, briefly reopen for November's Richmond Marathon post-race party, then close until construction wraps around the year's end.

Those breaks were built into the construction schedule, Sims said.

Two urban scenes: left shows a construction site with dirt, equipment, and blue glass high-rises; right shows a finished plaza with fountains, green trees, and people near a glass CoStar Group building. — What it looks like today versus what it will look like. Images: Karri Peifer/Axios and Courtesy of Venture Richmond

Zoom in: Here's what will be ready in time for Folk Fest.

A revamped CoStar/Seventh Street entrance with a new ADA-accessible ramp.
A rebuilt Seventh Street bridge deck and all-new terraced stairs with shade sails.
Fresh sod and new sidewalks for the Great Lawn, the center of the island.
And some of the island's 200-plus new trees — including 14 cherry blossoms — should also be planted, part of Venture's effort to add more shade.

Two-panel scene beneath a large concrete bridge: left shows a construction yard with stacked bricks, pallets, and a white pickup; right shows a public plaza with people, trees, and bridge arches under a blue sky. — What it looks like today versus what it will look like. Images: Karri Peifer/Axios and Courtesy of Venture Richmond

Yes, but: It'll still look like a construction zone in places.

Permanent bathrooms with flushable toilets, the splash pad and James River terraces won't be ready yet, while portions of the island will remain fenced off.
The new pavilion behind the Friday Cheers stage won't be finished either.
Landscaping will still be incomplete, and play areas for kids, extra seating and new canal access are still to come.

But, but, but: The Potterfield Bridge, which has stayed open during construction, will still be open and fully accessibly for Folk Fest weekend.

Two-panel urban scene: left shows a construction site under a highway overpass with a tall building; right shows a sunlit park with trees, pedestrians, and elevated roads with tan residential towers. — What it looks like today versus what it will look like. Images: Karri Peifer/Axios and Courtesy of Venture Richmond

What they're saying: For decades, "a lot of people came to Brown's Island, then they would walk across the bridge, and [be] like, 'What else is there?'" Sims said.

The goal of the makeover, she said, is to make the island "a more engaging space for people" — even when there isn't a festival or concert happening
And the best is still to come.

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What Richmonders will see at Brown's Island's reopening next month

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