The arts center proposed six years ago to help revitalize a barren stretch of downtown Richmond will move forward this afternoon with a groundbreaking and street party.

The $65 million project, known as Richmond CenterStage, is expected to open in fall 2009 with a renovated and expanded Carpenter Center.

Today's festivities will start at 5:30 p.m. with a groundbreaking and performances by the Richmond Boys Choir and others in the gravel lot between East Broad Street and the Carpenter Center.

At 6:15 p.m., the New Orleans-style No BS Brass Band will lead the crowd along several city sidewalks to kick off the First Fridays Artwalk, which is held on and off Broad from First to Belvidere streets. The event is costing about $15,000 and being funded by private donors, officials said.

Arts-center backers initially proposed a larger and more expensive project to open this fall, but shortfalls in private fundraising and pressure from Mayor L. Douglas Wilder forced a delay and overhaul of the plan last year.

"The road has taken many turns, but I think we're all moving in the right direction," said James E. Ukrop, chairman of the nonprofit Virginia Performing Arts Foundation.

"It's a very exciting time for downtown Richmond and the region, and the youth of our community. This project is really about people and places, and it's about programs."

In addition to the Carpenter Center, Richmond CenterStage will include a community playhouse, an arts-education center and a multipurpose performance venue. The project is to be funded primarily with private, city and state funds.

While the arts center has been awaiting construction, the blocks around it have been transformed during the past six years.

A new federal courthouse is nearing completion. The Miller & Rhoads building is being converted into a hotel and condominiums. The National Theater is being renovated. The Greater Richmond Convention Center has been expanded.

Bistro Twenty Seven opened in December 2005 at Adams and West Broad streets, an area enlivened by First Fridays. The restaurant's customers are helping to fund the arts center because the city's support for the project was pegged to an increase in the meals tax, from 5 percent to 6 percent.

Bistro Twenty Seven is one of several downtown restaurants celebrating today's groundbreaking and First Fridays event with a special entree. The restaurant will serve shrimp, scallops and soft-shell crab in a tangy, blood-orange sauce.

"We're definitely happy the area is growing and expanding," said Jenny Tremblay, manager of Bistro Twenty Seven. "If it brings people down here, we're all for it."

Capital Ale House opened on East Main Street near Sixth Street in November 2002. It's getting ready to open its own 300-person capacity music hall this month. The restaurant will mark today's groundbreaking with an ahi tuna dish.

"We want to see the place open," said Chris Holder, one of the owners. "We want to see some benefits."