The local corporate media is playing all coy about the recent demolishing of the historic canal wall. They keep referring to it as if it was an accident and was bound to happen. (It was not. There were witnesses.)
Not me (and yeah, this is marked as editorial).
I believe somebody, despite knowing the many concerns of our neighborhood and larger Richmond community, thought they could sneakily order and get away with, under the lingering goodwill glow of the folk festival, and before the Riverfront Plan comes up at City Council, the destruction of an important part of Richmond’s history (built with slave labor, designed with the help of no one less than George Washington). And, I guess they figured this sort of thing has been done before in Richmond, so they did think they could get away with it.
As others have pointed out, the work crew did not even bother to put up erosion controls as required by the Chesapeake Bay Act, before beginning this work that included a deep bulldozer rut down the side of the canal.
Imagine if a regular citizen tried something so arrogant, so pernicious. This was not like a kid spray painting a monument, this was someone destroying a large swathe of historic artifact. I don’t care how big or small of a figure the guilty party or guilty parties are, or which corporations they are leaders of, somebody should be going to jail.
Corporate accountability should mean something and not just political buzzwords. Speaking of which, where’s our Councilperson on this? After all, he was very recently quoted- “We need a council to do the people’s business of being watchdogs over the public purse, to be watchdogs over waste, fraud and abuse, to be watchdogs over massive mismanagement,” Jewell says. Really, Marty, then why aren’t you publicly calling for a criminal investigation?
It was a 150 foot accident! Really!
I witnessed the bulldozer knocking down the historic Tredegar wall on city property. This wall certainly did not collapse!
It’s clear Councilman Jewell doesn’t care about preservation of the canal. He’s said as much while objecting to proposed expenditure to preserve the canal.
See video, http://vimeo.com/46333628 at minute 14:20
Isn’t the correct approach to fix it, fine the ones responsible and see that it doesn’t happen again?
You mean like BP, Paul?
More than two years after the disastrous Gulf oil spill, BP still has not paid a single penny in Clean Water Act Fines.
Instead, BP is using litigation to stall this process and actively attempt to abandon its obligations to clean up the Gulf.
No, this demands stronger justice.
Three points to make about this:
1. Look at every man made item you touch each day. Think about every organization you deal with…from your favorite coffee shop to your most respected non-profit gig. Your favorite foods, arts and entertainment organizations or the facilities, instruments, or paint brushes they use. Just about every last one of every man created thing around you, Scott, is created or distributed by a corporation. Your ultra –broad brush damning of “corporations” shows your ignorance, and costs you credibility on otherwise important topics.
2. Our neighborhoods have these great blogs that are aggregated here at RVANews. I read many of them, but of course only live in one neighborhood, work in another. They are great community tools. Your writing often fringes on activist and sometimes extremist (see ‘corporation’ point above). Not only are these topics often not Oregon Hill related, they alienate Oregon Hill residents who may not be on the same side of you “rants”. It simply not fair to the community that their representative blog goes so far off course so often. I know, you can tie everything back to Oregon hill somehow, but do the other neighborhood blogs participate in this type of rhetoric? Do your community good by starting your own anti-(insert one of your activist subjects) blogs to do your venting, and leave oregonhill dot net for real community issues.
3. You made your mind up on this issue long ago so there is no convincing you otherwise, your true motivation is “anti-corporation” and NOT “pro-preservation”. However, at the end of the day how do we preserve every bit of “historical” rock, stone, and iron in this City? Where would all the modern progress of the past 50-100 years go? Get over it, there are bigger fish to fry in life and in this great City. Where do you base the conclusion that somebody should serve jail time for this “offense”? Silly question, extremist/activists never have to support their claims.
In closing, a support the City in creating a more safe and congestion free solution to the growing problem brought upon by the popularity of our beautiful riverfront. An additional route for the weekend rivergoers, the festival attendees, and the weekday workers was sorely needed.
No, I mean like here in Richmond. Aren’t we talking about 2nd Street Connector and the canal wall?
You’re going to put somebody in jail for a construction accident? It won’t happen.
Do you want them to fix it, pay for it and pay a penalty for breaking it? That should happen.
OK maybe rebuilding, penalty and probation are appropriate but I would submit that if it were 3 black guys on their own caught for destroying the 150 foot wall and packaging the bricks for sale, they would already be in jail. It sickens me to say that…
It was a 150 foot accident! I swears!
I ran by the construction today. The view over the James from that overlook is beautiful. Now we get to witness the construction of an unnecessary road blighting the landscape. That was a peaceful stretch of land that was compromised by Dominions desire to get on the highway 3 minutes faster. Hopefully they won’t extend their parking lot into the James.
I am glad we have people like Scott-keeping our elected and corporate officials in check. He is watching out for his community and our community
James Tepe2- your statement shows far more ignorance than you know. If you only understood how much Oregon Hill has been shit on and destroyed by the city and corporations in the past. Oh wait! I’m sure Jackson ward and Oregon hill residents are so happy to hear that their sacrifices are for the greater good and that the city is making progress at their expense! I’m sure you didn’t know that places you enjoy in the city and the river are not covered in 5 lanes of traffic because of people just like Scott.
It may seem like a small piece of history but once it’s destroyed, it’s not coming back. I don’t think anyone will be arrested for this, but I do believe that if all actions are legal and legit, then someone would have a clear answer.
Call it whatever you want. Kick some butt and get it fixed.
Todd, why would 3 black guys want to tear down a brick wall by hand?
Let’s see…I have heard people paying about a buck each for these antique bricks. So, how about a little grand larceny?
But let’s not lose sight of what really happened here. It’s pretty obvious this was an attempt to get around any civic codes that might have protected the wall by just demolishing the wall. The question is, having been caught with this subterfuge, will there be any real punishment?
Keep in mind this was not just about pushing through a proposed amphitheater or road, this was also about thwarting public ambitions towards renovating and using the canal again as living history.
Hopefully, the wall can be rebuilt, but it will not hold the same historic significance that it did.
Someone purposely, selfishly destroyed an important, very American legacy for their own reasons. It’s ugly and beyond mere contempt.
I do think prison is fitting.
Paul- im just talking about the injustice of our justice system. The culprits will talk there way out of this.
George Washington’s Kanawha Canal is an awesome transportation feat. The destruction of an extended stretch of Richmond’s segment was not in any way useful, much less necessary, for the Folk Festival (& folk music itself is full of respect for history). The crime that is being minimized & scapegoated as an “accident” was coincidentally an action toward clearing our long-preserved heritage out of the way of future development of prime real estate nearby.
Who would believe that an entity of such wealth cannot afford a bike lane, a pedestrian sidewalk & a short arch in a stretch of driveway that is purportedly for connecting Virginia’s citizens, students & tourists with outdoor recreation through the renowned miles of trails in the James River Park System?
Why would the representatives of such a corporate entity so aggressively disdain both non-automobile transportation & one of the defining achievements of our first President & our young Virginia, & then those representatives take an expensive action that is genuinely, altruistically in honor of … Folk Festival goers?
Yes, surely we all agree that there are many fine corporations, doing useful work with integrity. Certainly there are noble human heads & hearts within all corporations. In the same vein, there is healthful food & there are books that convey great truths. Um, it would still be an overly broad brush that paints the picture that all corporations, all people, all things-to-eat, or all books are trustworthy. To put a sharper point on it, some are not.
It is our responsibility as a civilization to learn to differentiate between the honest & the dishonest, the nuanced & the simplistic, the multi-fold, long-lasting solution & the quick buck that will cost many times more to correct than it would have cost to do the right thing in the first place. Sometimes that lesson costs reputations as well as $$$.
Any evidence that some corporations/people/foods/books are more trustworthy than others bears examination in public, by concerned individuals & by the press (whether or not it seems more ethical or just nicety-nicer to refuse to investigate suspicious demolition of a national treasure).
Where is the disconnect that causes this to be difficult to grasp: a writer who is upstandingly, unabashedly anti-corporate-crime can also be sufficiently complex to be sincerely, intelligently pro-preservation? The morals behind the two values are perfectly compatible. An unsupported projection that a debater on the opposite side has only one value is not a convincing argument in favor of truncating the Kanawha Canal.
What combination of values favors the loss of the contiguous canal? Cui bono?
Layer by layer, we shall see how the handling of this incident is viewed among nationally respected organizations & distinguished people. There will be substantial overlap among:
… those who expect the truth (the whole truth & nothing but) to expose dishonorable sneaks in positions of pathocracy, whether of government or of private corporation;
… those who value the education in preserving historic resources;
… & those who understand the necessity of protecting irreplaceable future resources, including conservation easements & public transportation rights-of-way.
Blueways belong to the times that we have begun to see around the corner beyond cheap fossil-fuels. The Kanawha Canal is the Father of our Country’s Blueways, one of the solutions that connects the generations of our past & of our future.
Todd, not with a decent lawyer going after them. We’ve got two, one on City Council and one is the State attorney. I’m sure the Sierra Club has one too. Never underestimate the power of a lawsuit.
I’ll gladly trust your wisdom, Paul!
Well said (applause applause), Napi!
“still be an overly broad brush that paints the picture that all corporations, all people, all things-to-eat, or all books are trustworthy. To put a sharper point on it, some are not.”
Really!
You can talk all you want about the meaning of life and the nature of man, but this is not an epic struggle between good and evil. Modern “blueways” are sterile highways of water like the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers that carry massive amounts of freight in deep channels between levied banks. Those are the true decendents of Washington’s canals and he would possibly approve. His goal was economic development and canals were a means to that end. The canals you talk about are the picturesque leftovers of the that age found in Europe and parts of the U.S. Their only economic value today is tourism and recreation, which Scott knows I am for, but these aren’t the transportation hubs of the future. City Council, Jewell excepted, voted funds to preseve the canal. If someone’s violating their contract intentionally, that’s criminal. If it’s just a screw up, then amends have to be made and fines levied. Either way it will take an investigaion to find out.
“Their only economic value today is tourism and recreation,…”
Paul, the Canal is a tangible and scenic resource that links to slave labor and its history as well as to the Father of our Country. The educational value alone is priceless. You cant buy an historic icon such as this. Once it’s gone, thats forever…
I agree, culturally it is priceless. The good news is it is not gone. The footprint and original materials are still there. It needs to be put back the way they found
Thankfully, a Channel 8 reporter is interested in getting to the bottom of the demolition of the 150 feet of canal wall on city property. She has done three stories so far.
http://www.wric.com/global/Category.asp?c=190525&clipId=7869757&autostart=true
http://www.wric.com/global/Category.asp?c=190525&clipId=7873928&autostart=true
http://www.wric.com/global/Category.asp?c=190525&clipId=7878963&autostart=true
Look at 1:51 for one of the clips that Scott provided: http://www.wric.com/global/Category.asp?c=190525&clipId=7873928&autostart=true
If the contractor bulldozed the whole wall, why isn’t there destruction to the trees/brush in this clip? Why do the bricks lay perfectly flat in a straight line….wouldn’t a big bull dozer push everything into a big pile or scatter it around in different directions???
I witnessed the contractor using a small “Bobcat” type bulldozer to demolish the wall. If the wall had just fallen over, there would have been large sections of wall on the ground, instead they broke the wall up with the “Bobcat” and immediately started stacking the bricks on pallets, presumably to sell the bricks.
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I just received this story from Mark Holmberg. Among other things it say:
I’m not sure I’ve seen this reported here.
http://wtvr.com/2012/10/23/hanover-contractor-accepts-blame-for-demolition-of-historic-canal-wall/
Who from the CIty issued the demolition permit to the company? Did DHR approve of this permit?
“He said his firm hasn’t removed any of the bricks from that section of that wall.”
So, where are they now?
I strongly question that they “fell like a domino” and I wonder who said it was ok for the company to demolish the remaining wall.
This stinks to high heaven. Posting an old news report does not make it smell any better.
I consider Mark Holmberg to be a reputable source. I thought your readers might be interested in reading his report.
Maybe you can get Holmberg to do a follow up story–
Can we see a copy of Liesfeld’s contract to demolish the wall?
NewMarket demolished a portion of the same wall on their property within 28 feet of city property a year ago in Oct. 2011 without the proper permit, and, according to press reports, was required them to get the permit after they demolished the wall. Was Liesfeld the same contractor that demolished the wall for NewMarket without the required permit in Oct. 2011?
Will the Commonwealth Attorney investigate the unlawful demolition of 150 feet of the historic Tredegar wall on city property?
I don’t tell Mark Holmberg what to do. If you want to know something, ask him yourself.
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