When Venture Richmond’s Jack Berry did his presentation to OHNA, he said that there had never been a study to connect the canals.
Yet here one is:
Click here for Richmond Canals pdf.
I guess Berry just did not know, but then he’s been around Richmond for a long time. It’s certainly not the first time that plans for RIchmond have been buried, only to be dug up by citizens later.
From email:
Dear Mr. Berry,
Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to visit the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) on August 28, 2012 to make a presentation on the proposed amphitheater located near the Oregon Hill neighborhood. In your presentation, you discussed the changes Venture Richmond wished to make to the site, including a proposal to trim the south bank of the historic James River and Kanawha Canal in order to improve the sight lines for the amphitheater, which you envision accommodating 10,000 people.
At the same meeting, OHNA voted to oppose any damage to the historic James River and Kanawha Canal and, specifically, removing any portion of the south bank of the canal. The Oregon Hill neighborhood has important historic connections to the canal. The surviving home at 601 Spring Street belonged to Samuel P. Parsons, the canal Superintendent responsible for the canal’s expansion to Lynchburg. These connections also include the surviving home at 619 W. Cary Street that belonged to the Messler family, who owned a canal boat building business in Penitentiary Basin, just east of the proposed amphitheater.
While we deeply appreciate the worthwhile efforts of Venture Richmond in bringing the Folk Festival to Richmond, we believe that this can be accomplished without damaging the irreplaceable historic canal. This is an original portion of the canal that was built when George Washington was the first president of the canal. The city is going to considerable expense to protect the canal in the construction of the 2nd Street connector, so it would be unacceptable to damage the canal just to the west of this connector.
Suggestions made by members of OHNA include: covering the canal with a temporary protective structure during the folk festival, encouraging Venture Richmond to consider a smaller venue at the location of the amphitheater that would not require damage to the historic canal, moving the adjacent Children’s Stage to another location and using the new open space as a part of the proposed amphitheater, or placing an impermeable liner inside the canal, filling it with soil and flowers and building bridges to cross the canal.
OHNA is also asking that Venture Richmond limit the number of performances at the amphitheater to 15 days per year and to limit the times of the performances to 10:00 pm on weeknights and to 11:00 pm on weekends.
Again, we appreciate Venture Richmond’s presentation to our organization, and we hope that you will keep us informed regarding developments of the proposed amphitheater.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Hancock
Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association, President
For more background on this, please click here and here and here.
The first graphic is a drawing that Venture Richmond sent today of the proposed damage to the Kanawha Canal for the proposed amphitheater. They propose slicing the south bank of the historic canal and infilling the canal to make a smooth slope. The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) passed a resolution against damaging the canal.
The second map uses a 1877 Beers Atlas to identify the location of the proposed damage to the canal.
Click here and here for more on the controversies regarding the proposed development for this area.
Dr. Trout, former president of the American Canal Society and Va. Canals and Navigation Society, sent Mr. Berry of Venture Richmond the following letter concerning the Kanawha Canal:
Dear Mr. Berry,
Could you please encourage those planning the new amphitheater at Ethyl, near the Lee Bridge, to think creatively to avoid destroying part of the Kanawha Canal?
The canal, on the National Register of Historic Places, has been there for over two centuries. The course of the canal there is still intact and clear. Instead of damaging it, please make every effort to keep it intact as one of America’s most important historic sites, a monument to George Washington and the industry of early Virginians. It’s not worth destroying part of it just to build a larger amphitheater. It would be like slicing into a Civil War fort to build a bigger visitor parking lot.
Would it be possible to forward to me a copy of the present plans?
Many thanks,
William E. Trout, III, Ph.D.
Past president, American Canal Society and the Virginia Canals & Navigations Society
Some more background on this can be found by clicking here and here.