Downtown RVA Bike Lanes meeting – This Monday
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Community Movie Night TOMORROW
The summer long movie series known as Oregon Hill Community Movie Night will begin TOMORROW, May 8, at Dusk in Pleasants Park. The first movie of the season will not be Scarface. Instead it will be Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
The series operates every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month, May thru October (though rainy weather can mess with that). Free refreshments served: hot dogs, chip, and beverage.
Monroe Park Woes
The state of Monroe Park continues to create consternation.
From neighbor and Monroe Park defender Todd Woodson:
Last Monday evening, I spoke during citizen comment period at city council regarding the fact that the city currently has over 3/4 of a million dollars and hundreds of hours of planning in the Monroe Park Master Plan and that the plan has been approved by both the planning commission and city council and is prominently displayed on the richmondgov.com website and that they were currently replacing the entire north side of the park (600 and 700 blocks w Franklin) with new concrete sidewalks which do not comply with the specified brick with planting strip sidewalks in the master plan. I emailed the interim director at DPW before any concrete was poured and he responded that he would consult his engineers and get back to me. He never did. I subsequently requested the budget for the project under the freedom of information act but haven’t received it yet. They have now completed the northern perimeter and have started on the eastern side (Belvidere). It is now apparent that the city is going to complete the entire perimeter with inappropriate material in anticipation of the UCI races. This unfortunate waste of funds could reach up to 200 to 300 thousand dollars by my estimate. Should the master plan be implemented, all this concrete will need to be demolished, transported to a landfill, the site re-prepared and correct brick sidewalks installed.
I request that you do anything you can to bring this to the attention of the public. If they stopped and began the right plan, much money could still be saved.
This blatant and willful waste of taxpayer dollars and stress to the environment through all of the landfill waste is appalling and unconscionable. The administration of our city is out of control.
These Monroe Park sidewalks has been reported on before on this website.
Some Richmonders have also been wondering about this plaque, now without a corresponding tree:
Perhaps we will learn more at this upcoming Monday (May 4, 5pm)’s City Council Organizational Development Standing Committee Meeting being held in the Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall. Alice Massie, the President of the Monroe Park Conservancy, is scheduled to give an update. She has missed previous meetings. Also, Lucy Meade of Venture Richmond is scheduled to speak on “City Beautification Projects”. This standing committee meeting often has little public participation, despite the important matters that are discussed there.
Friends Of Hollywood Picnic This Sunday
From Hollywood Cemetery (don’t forget to RSVP!):
Join us for an annual tradition that dates back to the 1800s! We will be hosting our Fourth Annual Sunday Picnic at Hollywood Cemetery on Sunday, May 3rd from 1:00pm – 3:30pm. Pack a picnic basket, bring a blanket, and relax to sounds of great entertainment at Hollywood Cemetery. Guided trolley tours are available throughout the cemetery that day. Cupcakes from Pearl’s Cupcake Shoppe, an ice cream truck and hotdogs will be on site. Live music will be provided by the Oak Lane Band and Capitol Opera Richmond.
The picnic is free to attend, but we do ask that you RSVP in advance. Please email nshepherd@hollywoodcemetery.org or call 648-8501 to make reservations. Rain Date – Sunday, September 20th, 2015 at 1:00pm.
Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association Meeting Tomorrow Night
From email announcement:
Hello all
Here is your monthly reminder that OHNA is meeting tomorrow night, Tuesday, April 28th, at 7 pm at WBCH.
On the agenda:
An update on the Tredegar Green rezoning.
Erin Stanforth. She is VCU’s Director of Sustainability and has about a 15-20 minute interactive presentation seeking input on VCU’s Sustainability Plan.
Thanks
Jennifer
OHNA
Public Square On Segregation This Thursday
The Times Dispatch Public Square events are sometimes good and sometimes very weak, depending on how topics are presented and moderated. But this one sounds like it it could be a better one (and maybe of particular interest to Oregon Hill, which is often described as a “traditionally white neighborhood”):
Public Square 56: Why is Richmond still segregated? Thursday, April 23, 12-1:30 p.m., Richmond Times-Dispatch 1st Floor Auditorium (300 E. Franklin Street)
At the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s next Public Square, we’ll explore the issue of segregation in the region. We’ll include presentations from Heather Mullins Crislip, president and CEO of Richmond’s Housing Opportunities Made Equal, and John V. Moeser, senior fellow in the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement at the University of Richmond and professor emeritus of urban studies and planning at Virginia Commonwealth University. We’ll also hear from Victor K. Branch, Richmond market president for Bank of America and a HOME board member, and longtime Times-Dispatch columnist Michael Paul Williams. As always, the audience will be invited to ask questions and make comments.
Also:
Richmond Public Schools (RPS) State of the Schools Address Tuesday, April 28, 6 p.m., 1500 N. Lombardy St., RVA 23220
Come join the members of RPS and the Richmond community to discuss the current state and future of the schools in Richmond. The event will be held at the Claude G. Perkins Living and Learning Center (on the campus of Virginia Union University).
Richmond Urban Land Institute Meeting On Wednesday: “Progress on Richmond’s Riverfront: Cultivating Connections with the James River”
It’s not free to attend, but there is a meeting this Wednesday by the Urban Land Institute that is focusing on riverfront connections.
How should Richmond take advantage of the opportunities that the James River offers? What types of infrastructure is necessary to encourage interaction with the James? What progress has already been made?
Join ULI and it’s Young Leader’s Group for a panel-led discussion that will highlight projects that encourage Richmond to engage with the James River. Our distinguished panel will provide commentary on the progress that has been made along Richmond’s Riverfront and will discuss the vision for the future.
Note that it is being moderated by Lucy Meade of Venture Richmond. Can we really expect the public interests to be adequately represented at this meeting?
VCU’s “Relay for Life” Saturday
There is an all-day annual event that VCU is hosting this Saturday. It’s called ‘Relay for Life’, and it’s a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
It is open to the community and interested persons can sign up or donate by clicking on this link.
The event goes from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Cary St. Field.
Organizers have been working to ensure that the sound projects toward Cary St. and not the neighborhood. That said, we know that sounds can and will bounce off buildings. Should the volume become problematic residents can call VCU PD’s non-emergency number at 828-1196.
4/15 for $15 in Monroe Park
As part of a larger, national “Tax Day” action, there is a protest for higher wages in Monroe Park this Wednesday. From the FaceBook page:
Working people are fed up with being treated, and paid, like we don’t matter. On April 15, we will stand side-by-side with other workers demanding $15 an hour, the right to form a union and the respect we all deserve.
Join Fast Food Workers with the Raise Up campaign and a coalition of supporting organizations and individuals on Wednesday April 15th, the day before Tax Day, at 5pm in Monroe Park to rally for a $15 dollar an hour living wage for Fast Food Workers!
Bob Dylan At Altria Theater Tomorrow
As previewed by Richmond Magazine’s Don Harrison:
If you’re Bob Dylan, at this stage in your career, you can do what you want. You can ignore the guitar and prowl the stage like an angry cowboy (like he did in Richmond two years ago). You can cut a music video with Scarlett Johansson, record an inexplicable Christmas album and make a score-settling speech at the Feb. 6 MusiCares tribute concert that gets everyone in an uproar, especially Merle Haggard. You can release a critically acclaimed box set of legendary recording sessions (The Basement Tapes) and basically ignore it while cutting a moody album of oft-recorded Frank Sinatra-style standards (Shadows in the Night) — probably the best Dylan album in 15 years. One of those songs asks, “Why Try and Change Me Now?” Indeed. Dylan returns to the Altria Theater on April 12. 8 p.m.