Category Archives: community

Growing Opposition To Proposed “Laurel Street Venue” for Historic Monroe Park

Posted on by
1

This past Tuesday at the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Organization meeting there was a design presentation on a proposal for Monroe Park. The response has not been favorable and neighbors are urging concerned citizens to send comments in to Urban Design Committee about this proposal. An opposition letter from OHNA is forthcoming.

From one neighbor:

URGENT!! This Thursday morning, April 6th, the Urban Design Committee will decide on an application to replace a children’s resource center in Monroe Park with a corporate event center call “Laurel Street Venue”. They also want to destroy two more healthy mature trees in the process. Please email the UDC secretary Joshua.Son@richmondgov.com to register your objection. There is a sample letter below you are welcome to copy. Please act NOW!!!

OHNA Meeting Tomorrow Night

Posted on by
Reply

From email announcement:

Hello all,

We (Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association) are meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, March 28th, at 7 pm in the Little Chapel at St. Andrew’s.

On the agenda:

STOP Signs. Basket weaving options 1 and 2.

Presentation by 3North architects on the Laurel Street Event Venue (in Monroe Park). It will be going before the UDC on April 6th.

Note: these plans may be altered in the near future prior to being reviewed by the UDC on April 6, 2017.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yv3aglpmtdi3ejw/LAU_EventVenueUDCBooklet_2017-03-16_REV.pdf?dl=0

Thanks
Jennifer

Flying Brick Library Moving To Gallery 5

Posted on by
Reply

From FaceBook event Flying Brick Library Housewarming:

GOOD NEWS everyone! After months,ahem, years of planning the Flying Brick Library is moving & we couldn’t be happier. After over a dozen years in a private residence in Oregon Hill we’ve decided to take the plunge & expand to a public location. We are joining forces with the fine folks at the Richmond Zine Library at Gallery 5 in Jackson Ward. Now not only can you dive into the ever growing zine collection, but now you are welcome to cozy up to the hundreds of books that the library will have on hand.
Help us celebrate, not just our new digs, but also Gallery Five’s twelve year anniversary that week. Performances by Jake Mayday & Andrew Alli will round out a very festive evening.

Thursday, April 6 at 7 PM – 10 PM

Bill Inge 1938-2017

Posted on by
Reply

From the obituary:

INGE, Vernon E. Sr., known as Bill, was born in Newport News, Va., on November 22, 1938 and passed away on March 17, 2017, after a prolonged illness and then cancer. Mr. Inge grew up in Oregon Hill in Richmond, attended Randolph-Macon College and received his law degree from the University of Richmond. Mr. Inge practiced law in Richmond for many years until he realized the dream of many lawyers and bought a fishing pier in the Outer Banks.

Eliza Jane and 811 W. Cary

Posted on by
Reply

I am sorry to say that I just heard that “Granny”, the woman who inspired the “Eliza Jane RVA” blog, passed away earlier today. I enjoyed relating “The Lady in the Lavender Hat”. Here’s “Laughter & Freedom”, in her honor:

Granny’s family lived at 811 W. Cary Street. In those days Oregon Hill continued into that area, before the Downtown Expressway sliced through it’s edge, and before Virginia Commonwealth University put up a parking deck at Cary and Laurel. The house was just a few doors down from Paragon Pharmacy, where Granny and her friends would roller skate out front due to it having the only concrete. The rest of the sidewalks in the neighborhood were red brick. The family’s house had two sets of steps on the front: one set went up to the porch and front door, the other set went down to the family grocery store where Granny would steal penny candy throughout the day.

Backyard at 811 W. Cary St., Oregon Hill

The house was attached on the right side to another home and the two families were friendly. Granny says she rarely got from one place to another in the usual fashion, much to her mother’s (Lena’s) chagrin: To visit her neighbors, Granny would simply climb over the railing dividing their porches.


Sisters Frances and Claryce (“Ikey”), eldest two of the four siblings

Eventually the family moved around the corner to Randolph Street. On the left side of the home there was a low building with a metal roof. Instead of going downstairs and out the front door, Granny would jump from her second story bedroom window onto the metal roof next door, then jump once more to the ground to run off and go play. She still describes this act with a far away look in her eyes and laughter in her voice.


811 W. Cary Street (with Harvey Hardware in the background) Photo courtesy of Charles Allen Sugg

Author’s note:

The two middle homes pictured here – the first of which is 811 W. Cary St. – were torn down just a short time before I arrived to take a picture for my Granny. I was devastated. She had given me the address in her distinctive “Old Richmond” accent: “Eight Eleh’m West Curry Street” (811 W. Cary Street). Fortunately, Charles Allen Sugg had photographed it in 2008 and came to my rescue. A copy of this photo now sits framed in my Granny’s home.

Shirley Anne Trower’s Memorial Service Tomorrow At Pine Street Baptist Church

Posted on by
Reply

From obituary in Times Dispatch:

TROWER, Shirley Anne, 87, of Richmond, passed away March 16, 2017… Shirley was a native of Oregon Hill and was a lifelong member of Pine Street Baptist Church. She was a retired employee of the City of Richmond…A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Sunday, March 19, at Pine Street Baptist Church. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, March 20, in Riverview Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Endowment Fund of Pine Street Baptist Church, 400 S. Pine St., Richmond, Va. 23220.