Governor Ralph Northam today (6-16-20) announced that he intends to mark Juneteenth as a permanent paid state holiday, starting by giving state employees a day off this Friday, June 19th.   The City observes all state-designated holidays. Juneteenth is now considered a holiday for the Commonwealth of Virginia and all state offices are closed on this day.

Juneteenth is the oldest known commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. It marks the day in 1865 that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, the last of the former Confederate states to abolish slavery, finally heard that the Civil War had ended, and learned that the Emancipation Proclamation had made them free nearly two years earlier.

In observance of the Juneteenth holiday, Suffolk City offices will be closed Friday, June 19, 2020. Operations will resume Monday, June 22, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. Please note, however, that the majority of City of Suffolk facilities, as well as the Treasurer’s Office and the Commissioner of the Revenue’s Office inside City Hall and their satellite offices at the North Suffolk Library, remain closed to the public until further notice due to the impacts of COVID-19.

Suffolk Public Works Department and TFC Recycling will pick up trash and recyclables on a one-day delay, with Friday’s routes being picked up on Saturday.  Suffolk Public Works Department reminds you that trash must be placed at curbside no later than 7:00 a.m. on the day of collection. For more information on refuse collection, please call Public Works at 757-514-7630.

Suffolk’s four major parks – Lone Star Lakes, Constant’s Wharf, Sleepy Hole, and Bennett’s Creek – will remain open Friday, June 19th; however, no park attendant will be on duty.  The East Suffolk Recreation Center and Whaleyville Recreation Center will be closed on Friday, June 19th.

The Suffolk Executive Airport Terminal will be open only for restaurant access on Friday, June 19th. The field and self-service fuel farm will remain open during this time.