A contractor is being sought to rehabilitate the waterfront restaurant building at 2295 Harbor Road, according to an invitation for bids. The City of Newport News owns the property and leases it to the Newport News Industrial Development Authority, which will contract the work. The approximately 4,650-square-foot building was originally constructed in 1940. It previously served as a Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Station and was the railway’s fourth Newport News depot, and Amtrak later operated it until 1981. The work is intended to prepare the building for a new restaurant tenant and operator.
According to a Feb. 3, 2025, article titled Opening New Doors, the authority finalized its selection of an operator for the waterfront restaurant. Antoine Bethea will bring a new concept, 41 on Harbor, to the space. The restaurant is to offer an affordable-upscale American dining experience, with plans to add weekend brunch service. It would also add a dining option downtown, complementing ongoing development on 23rd Street. The article added that $300,000 in funding awarded to the city from the Port Host Communities Revitalization Fund will support modernization of the facility.
Two contracts with PMA Inc. for work on the restaurant are listed on a project page at apps.nnva.gov. The first covers architectural and engineering services, with listed dates of May 7, 2024, to Nov. 30, 2024, a contract amount of $143,863.00 and $143,863.00 paid to date. The second covers construction document design, meaning the detailed drawings used to build a project, with listed dates of Dec. 6, 2024, to May 31, 2025. Its contract amount is $591,721.00, with $397,498.55 paid to date. The page also marks the design phase as 100% complete.
The same project page lays out the remaining schedule. A phase labeled Pre-Ad is listed as ending Nov. 5, 2026. The page lists an advertisement phase from Nov. 6, 2026, to Nov. 19, 2026, although the invitation for bids was released Oct. 8, 2026. A construction award phase is listed as running from Nov. 21, 2026, to Jan. 4, 2027. Construction is then scheduled to run through next summer. The page lists Oct. 9, 2027, as the end of project closeout, the final step.
Newport News library offers free Festival of Books Oct. 31
Book lovers can attend the Newport News Public Library’s free Festival of Books from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, at the Main Street Library. The event features local authors, two workshops, writing competitions for adults and for youth ages 8 to 11, giveaways, face painting and entertainment.
BrassWind closes Tech Center summer concert series Oct. 15
Neighbors can wrap up the season with live music Thursday, Oct. 15, when the horn-driven party band BrassWind closes Tech Center Research Park’s 2026 Summer Concert Series. Music starts at 6 p.m. at 800 Tech Center Parkway in Newport News. Guests can bring lawn chairs and enjoy food from vendors.
Jefferson Lab joins two newly funded Genesis Mission projects
Jefferson Lab is a partner on two projects receiving new multi-year funding under Phase II of the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission, according to a Jefferson Lab news release. One project will aid interpretation of physics experiments and theory, and the other will expand Super Intelligence-enabled capabilities for particle accelerator operations.
Summer Intern Conserves Three Objects at Mariners Museum Lab
At The Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, summer conservation intern Alva Brookshire spent nine weeks restoring a taped tea saucer from the S.S. Brittania, cleaning a Polynesian sailing canoe model and rebinding a damaged 1963 library book, the museum’s blog reports. Brookshire, a Christopher Newport University student, called the internship their first professional conservation experience.