The Prizery Tobacco Warehouse Renovation & Adaptive Use

Built c. 1910, the Prizery was where tobacco leaves were "prized:" pressed into hogsheads and then rolled to the banks of the Dan River, where they were loaded onto barges. Hanbury undertook the transformation of his important structure in the agricultural history of Halifax County at the behest of the Town of South Boston and the Community Arts Center Foundation. 

The design team analyzed the needs of several arts organizations who were interested in relocating to the Prizery, including consultation with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for the design requirements of the gallery spaces. The result was a building program covering, in detail, each physical space and its infrastructure requirements (sound, acoustics, electricity, communication) from which a phased restoration plan of the building was developed. 

The building now houses a 275-seat theater, an art gallery for traveling exhibits from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, classrooms for arts education, and a visitor’s center for the county. Its character-defining heavy timber frame is exposed, and the structure's open volume has been maintained. The result is a state-of-the-art facility which respects its historic context and architecture.

“We love this town, and we are so proud that we can expose our children to the arts right here... It has all been made possible by the enrichment the Prizery has brought to South Boston.”

Jacquelyn Epps, Parent, South Boston, Va.