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Culpeper on track for tourist trains

September 25, 2009 12:36 am

STARTING NEXT MONTH, tourists will have a new, easy way to visit Culpeper.

Amtrak Virginia will begin offering daily, round-trip Northeast Regional service between Lynchburg and Union Station in Washington on Oct. 1.

The route will include a 10:40 a.m. stop at the train station in downtown Culpeper, which is just a short walk from a number of restaurants, shops and bed-and-breakfasts.

That, said Culpeper Tourism Director Beth Burns, is sure to have a big impact on tourism not only in the redeveloped downtown but in the entire region.

"People can stop here and rent a car to see Montpelier and the wineries in the surrounding countryside," she said. "Once our State Theatre opens, that's going to be a tremendous attraction, too."

The State Theatre Foundation is raising money to restore the historic Art Deco-style State Theatre on Main Street as a regional cultural center. Among other things, it will hold film festivals presented in collaboration with the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center and the Daniel Technology Center in Culpeper.

Amtrak Virginia is a program developed by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and Amtrak. It's sponsoring the new service as part of a three-year pilot program to provide more rail travel choices within the state. Beginning in December, the program also will include service between Richmond and the Northeast Corridor, including a stop in Fredericksburg.

Besides Culpeper, the new Northeast Regional service will stop in Charlottesville, Manassas and Alexandria, and have Virginia Railway Express connections at Burke Centre and L'Enfant Plaza. The train will continue as far as Boston.

"For leisure travelers, this is a great way to visit sights in Virginia and north of Washington without facing long highway traffic delays," Jay McArthur of Amtrak's Policy and Development Department said in a prepared statement.

Virginia is the 15th state to partner with Amtrak to operate state-supported trains. It will kick off the service with a whistle-stop tour Sept. 30 that will stop in Culpeper at 12:45 p.m. The Eastern View High School band will play, and there will be speeches by Del. Ed Scott (R-Culpeper) and others.

"We're working closely with the Culpeper Department of Tourism on marketing the tourism aspect of this," said Jim Charapich of the Culpeper County Chamber of Commerce. "Our interest is in Culpeper, but we want to partner with other stations on the line to promote it. It has a three-year trial period, so we need to focus on its success."

Indianapolis-based consumer electronics and appliance retailer hhgregg is aggressively targeting Virginia as an expansion area. Specifically, hhgregg appears to be targeting storefronts previously occupied by bankrupt retailer Circuit City.

The publicly traded hhgregg operates about 112 stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee. In a July 8 news release, hhgregg said the availability of real estate and the exit of a "major competitor" have "created significant opportunities for the company to expand."

The company expects to open about 20 new stores this fiscal year, including locations in the Richmond market. Next fiscal year the company plans to open 40-45 new stores, mostly in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Monday that hhgregg has begun work on two new stores inside former Circuit City locations in Chesterfield and Henrico counties, and that it might be targeting a third store in Henrico.

Circuit City operated a store in a retail space at Fredericksburg's Central Park owned by Kimco Realty Corp. Kimco officials have not responded to requests for information, and hhgregg has not filed any building permits in Fredericksburg. But rumors have surfaced that hhgregg may be considering that location.

--Staff reporter Bill Freehling contributed to this report.

Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407
Email: cjett@freelancestar.com