Neighbor Charles Pool sent along this image, asking, are these electrical boxes an appropriate addition to the Memorial in Monroe Park honoring Virginia soldiers who died in World War II?
This is in reference to just one of the issues with the Monroe Park renovation.
This was going to to happen two weeks ago but was postponed due to weather….
Community Movie Night
Tonight at Dusk
Pleasants Park
Free refreshments served
Price: $15 Adult, $5 Child, $5 Valentine members
Length: 2 hours
Parking: On Street
Meeting place: Enter at Cherry and Albemarle streets, meet at the rear of the stone structure to the left.
Tour Notes
Advanced tickets are strongly encouraged. Space is limited.
Valentine walking tours are typically between 1-2 miles in length. We recommend you wear comfortable walking shoes and bring water.
Accessibility- People of all abilities are encouraged to join us for tours. If you have accessibility challenges or need accommodation, please let us know in advance.
Tours are held rain or shine. However, in extreme weather a tour may be cancelled. Call 804-649-0711 x 301 to verify the tour will take place.
Admission includes a $5 donation to the Friends of Hollywood Cemetery for ongoing restoration. Tours are made possible through a generous partnership with Hollywood Cemetery.
As expected, the William Byrd gym was torn down today.
This past week Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) announced that it had signed an agreement with the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) that will give their students and employees unlimited access to the new $65 million Pulse system and all other GRTC bus routes. In other words, as much local media trumpeted, VCU students and workers will get to ride ‘for free’.
Of course, this is welcome news. If nothing else, it may alleviate parking pressures and reduce carbon emissions. However, Richmond citizens should look past the headlines and consider the big picture of VCU’s ‘free ride’.
The conversation about the need to grow GRTC and mass transit in general has increased measurably as VCU has grown in both population and physical plant. All along, this community news site has advocated for more commitment from counties and universities to GRTC and mass transit. This call has only increased as ‘The Pulse’ BRT project has spent federal and state funds for implementation.
The problem is that with federal and state monies now spent, more and more of the cost burden will be shifted back to City taxpayers. And VCU, despite the announcement this week, is still falling very short in its commitment. $1.2 million is a drop in the bucket. Heck, VCU probably spent close to $1.2 million on all of the PR for their new ICA building. One year is not that long. Consider that VCU has made more of a commitment to its basketball coach than Richmond’s mass transit.
So what, the neoliberals say, college basketball brings in more money and GRTC can’t even support itself. VCU spends so much on transportation per student, university administrators say (if I was a student, I would be looking at where that money is going exactly). Yet, despite supposed sports profits and rising tuition, more poor and longterm Richmond residents are getting forced out of the City with rising tax bills. The City of Richmond continues to pay the overwhelming majority of GRTC’s budget and now it has increased its operational costs. Remember when ‘The Pulse’ backers said that it was designed to help Richmond’s poor? Now the largest entity by far on ‘The Pulse’ route is hedging its bets and waiting to see how the chips fall.
The local media and elected officials should be questioning this ‘deal’ more, but the majority of them won’t for fear of falling out of VCU’s favor (and advertising budget). If VCU alumni want to arrogantly claim that ‘they built this city’, they should be required to put their money where their mouth is. Other urban universities do more than brag.
Richmond2Day.com has a breaking story on a fire at the Cathedral of Sacred Heart, on Laurel, across from Monroe Park. It was reported on Richmond’s emergency website around 9am.
Fire crews in Richmond are working a fire in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart at 800 South Cathedral Place.
Responding crews reported heavy smoke on the first and second floors of the Cathedral.
Following up on an earlier post, neighbor Charles Pool has written an appeal to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation of the recent DHR determination that the Intermediate Terminal is not eligible for listing on the National Register.
In the document linked below, he lists a dozen reasons that the Terminal and adjacent structures are eligible for listing on the National Register and that the demolition of the Terminal would constitute and adverse impact on historic resources.
Pool appeal to the ACHP, NPS and HUD regarding Intermediate Terminal #3, Richmond, VA
From the FaceBook event page:
MANZARA – https://manzara.bandcamp.com/
HALLELUJAH – https://hallelujah69.bandcamp.com/
SLURRY – https://slurry.bandcamp.com/releases
@ MOJOS
August 3rd
Doors 9pm
Music 10pmWe are asking for a $5 donation to Rag & Bones Bicycle Co-op (https://ragandbonesrva.org/). Rag & Bones is a non-profit organization that provides near universal access to bicycle repair and technical knowledge, affordable bicycles and parts, and space within which to feel safe and welcome while learning and repairing.
Also, don’t forget the metal show on Sunday evening: TERROR ASSAULT #13
Terror Assault brings you the psychedelic death grinding SKULLSHITTER along with Oakland maniacs, DEATHGRAVE. LEFT CROSS will be emerging from dormancy to join in the savagery.
The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association has released this statement, following the meeting last month…
Dear Oregon Hill Neighbors,
The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) is the neighborhood civic association. Separate from OHNA, is the Overlook Unit Owners Association (HOA) at Outlook Townhomes (south of Holly Street). All residents are invited to join OHNA’s monthly meetings on the 4th Tuesday of the month at St. Andrew’s Church on the corner of S. Laurel and Idlewood at 7pm. Since we meet during dinner hours, neighbors host a potluck. Please feel free to bring something small to share if you can.
Over the years, multiple neighbors have approached OHNA to discuss a Residential Restrict Parking Zone similar to what The Fan and Carver have due to parking pressures. Residential Restrict Parking Zones must be backed by the neighborhood civic association. You can learn more about Restricted Parking Districts using the link below. It is highly recommended that you review the city website before taking the survey. You will see that The Fan and Carver’s restrict parking zones are different. Oregon Hill’s will also be unique based on the community’s feedback via the survey and at the meeting.
Restricted Parking Districts: http://www.richmondgov.com/Parking/RestrictedParkingDistricts.aspx
At the July OHNA meeting, President Todd Woodson made the decision to throw out all previous signed petitions. This decision was made to increase community awareness through a paper flyer campaign, online survey, and posts on Facebook and Nextdoor.
Website: www.oregonhill.net (Editor’s note: This website is an independent community news site that does not necessarily represent OHNA)
Facebook (closed group): Search “Oregon Hill Community”
Nextdoor: www.nextdoor.com
Online Survey: https://goo.gl/forms/BO98EfQ4GYCAUsbz2Please take 5-10 minutes to complete the online survey (longer is you explore the links within the survey). Due to financial and time restraints the survey will only be available online. This data will be on display at the next OHNA meeting on Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at 7pm to help determine the details of the petition. Please note the survey will close on Tuesday, August 21, 2018 at 11:59pm so the data can be compiled. Filling out the survey does not replace the requirement of the paper petition. Results from the survey do not stop neighbors from continuing with a new paper petition (see sample).
The DPW Parking Division will be on hand at the next OHNA meeting to walk Oregon Hill through the process of determining the petition’s language. Your feedback through the survey will greatly speed this process up. The requirement for the Department of Public Works (DPW) Parking Division is 60% of a block face (one side of the block) must sign in support of the restricted parking zone. The neighborhood must have 10 block faces with 60% or more signing the petition for the Parking Division to conduct a parking study. (One block equals two block faces.) There is no need for a second petition stating a neighbor is in opposition, the neighbor just does not sign the support petition. After the parking study is complete the Parking Division will help draft an ordinance to bring before City Council to be adopted. The parking ordinance cannot be edited for an entire year.
Several of you have asked what the Randolph Neighborhood Association is proposing. You can learn more on their website. They have been listening to Oregon Hill’s discussing for four years. Due to their parking pressures, they plan on moving forward whether Oregon Hill does or does not. They will be handing out flyers over the next week too. Website: https://randolphrva.com/2018/06/02/restricted-decal-permit-parking-zone/
If you have any questions that the links above or in the survey do not answer OR are willing to help flyer the neighborhood, please email OHNArva@gmail.com.
Thank you all for your time,
Oregon Hill Neighborhood AssociationP.S. Richmond residents with local government service questions & non-emergency requests are reminded they can call 311 (804.646.7000), use the www.rva311.com web portal, and/or the RVA311 app to report such things as: potholes, streetlights, illegal dumping, abandoned vehicles, overgrown lots, etc. The RVA311 mobile app is available on SmartPhones via the Google Play or Apple Stores.
Richmond’s previously used apps/portals, such as RVA One, See-Click-Fix, MPACT website, and the Citizen Request System are no longer in use as of June 15, 2018.
This Wednesday is a “Red Wednesday”, which means trash and recycling pickup. Ideally, rolling recycling containers are stored and deployed in the back alleys along with trash cans. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night.
If you have not done so already, don’t forget to sign up for your Recycling Perks.
In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.
The Central Virginia Waste Management Authority needs our help. It’s now more important than ever that recycling containers are used for recyclable items only, according to CVWMA officials. Placing items that are not accepted, such as plastic bags or food-contaminated containers, in curbside recycling bins or drop-off recycling containers causes contamination issues and add additional processing and disposal costs.
In the past, nearly all paper and cardboard collected in central Virginia for recycling was marketed to paper mills in China – until recently, when the country stopped allowing certain commodities, such as mixed paper, into the country because of poor quality.
Quality issues are caused when non-recyclable items, like plastic bags, get mixed in bales of paper or cardboard and contaminates the paper. Shutting off the world’s largest importer of recyclable materials has disrupted the market and forced recycling companies and municipalities to question the economic viability of recycling – especially products such as mixed paper and glass.
As a result, CVWMA’s recycling vendors will no longer pick up unwanted items like plastic bags and other non-recyclables, including food-contaminated containers.
Recyclers should place loose acceptable items only in the recycling container and not bag recycling in plastic bags.
If you find an “OOPS” tag (pictured) on your bin or cart and your recycling was not collected, then you may have included items that are not acceptable.
To avoid this, visit cvwma.com/programs/curbside-recycling/what-to-recycle/.