Mansa Makamu, 7, pretends to zoom in a model 1960 Cadillac in his mother’s natural hair salon on 2nd Street in Jackson Ward. His mother, Ife Robinson, still comes to the shop daily to consult with clients about natural hair care over the phone. She and others in the salon business generally are not seeing clients to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Flowering crabapple tree in Jackson Ward

Construction is one sign of normalcy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, heavy equipment removes old concrete from the former Downtown home of Dominion Virginia Energy, the state’s largest electric utility. The work is in preparation for the dramatic implosion of the 21-story building in the 700 block of East Cary Street that is scheduled for Saturday, May 30. The 42-year-old former headquarters was vacated after Dominion completed a new 20-story building next door that fills the 600 block between Cary and Canal streets. Plans have been filed with the city for construction of a 17-story building on the site once the 1978 building is removed, but Dominion officials have not yet announced whether the company will proceed with the building to be known as 700 Canal Place. Along with 600 Canal Place, the company has employees in the 20-story 8th & Main building at 705 E. Main St. and in its three-building, national headquarters complex on Tredegar Street. In all, Dominion employs about 2,700 people at its Downtown operations.