With it almost being time for the wonderful Richmond Folk Festival, there is more attention on Venture Richmond’s “Tredegar Green”. Here are a few of the questions that Oregon Hill residents have about it:

What happened to the emergency? Venture Richmond repeatedly told the media that they had to have the amphitheater built this summer or the Folk Festival would not happen. They said that nearby property owner New Market would not allow them to use some of the site land that they had in the past due to development plans, so they had to have the amphitheater site and no other alternative sites would work. Why were alternatives like Brown’s Island and beneath the historic James River and Kanawha Canal ignored? What are those development plans for the site area that they supposedly had to vacate?

What about the issues of the lease of the City property and the fact that Venture Richmond attempted to get a tax exemption on this land during the moratorium on tax exemption by designation?

Its been almost two years since a historically significant wall was systematically torn down (despite what the contractor Liesfeld has said about it just falling down, there were witnesses who saw the deconstruction). When will the illegally demolished historic wall be replaced, as was repeatedly promised? Were all of the torn down wall’s bricks accounted for (There were pallets of brick on the berm on Venture Richmond’s property. They had to have been moved when Venture Richmond worked on the berm)? Will the public ever be allowed to see the work contract and other agreements concerning the land where this public resource was illegally demolished (The plans approved by the City government showed the wall to be removed only on Venture Richmond’s property)?

Will there be a state historic marker for the James River and Kanawha Canal west of Tredegar Iron Works?

City staff told the Urban Design Committee and the City Planning Commission that they didn’t need to consider any damage to the James River and Kanawha Canal because Venture Richmond promised a thorough Section 106 review by the Va. Dept of Historic Resources and the Corps of Engineers. But Venture Richmond withdrew from the Section 106 review the day after receiving final city approval. How can Venture Richmond be trusted after the destruction of the canal without the promised Section 106 oversight?

There are rumors that the area closer to 5th Street and the Tredegar Iron Works site will be developed soon. There are still remains of the historic James River & Kanawha Canal there as well (Venture Richmond used part of them for a bicycle ramp as part of this past Dominion Riverrock festival). What are those development plans? Will there be any efforts to preserve the historic canal site there? The parcel is privately owned, but the Canal is a publicly registered historic site.

With Venture Richmond having altered and destroyed part of the historic James River & Kanawha Canal at one of it’s previously best preserved portions, will the Canal be structurally sound in the future?

When will the historic James River & Kanawha Canal be rewatered and more properly preserved? -as per 1988 City of Richmond Canal Restoration plans, despite the recent destruction of one of the previously best preserved portions of the canal? What is the City government doing to follow its own planning?

Upon the future restoration of the James River & Kanawha Canal, where will the planned canal boats turn around, now that Venture Richmond has taken and altered much of the crucial turning basin land as well as altered and diminished a crucial part of the canal’s foundation?

Venture Richmond received the City government’s approval to build the amphitheater in conjunction with a City ordinance that authorizes “temporary events”. Jack Berry of Venture Richmond told the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association that “we would probably be open to the idea of renting it.” which is not the same story that was told to the Planning Commission. Now that the amphitheater is built, Jack Berry is planning to have the amphitheater rezoned to allow for much more use. Is this a technique that other developers will copy? How and will rezoning plans for this area be publicly shared and debated? How will the public have a voice on this matter?

How will the new amphitheater effect programming at other public venues? How about the Dogwood Dell amphitheater? Given the number of performing arts venues that already exist and are being built, how many performing arts venues can Richmond support, both in terms of audiences and finances? How can they be coordinated to prevent interference and harm?

There is speculation that the planned reopening of a concert area on Mayo Island was basically not allowed by City government, in part because it would compete with this new amphitheater. Is there any truth to that speculation?

Oregon Hill neighborhood leaders have recently been working with the Richmond police to ensure that there is adequate parking enforcement and traffic control for public safety. As this amphitheater is used more, will Venture Richmond compensate the City and neighborhood for the additional parking and traffic pressure and needed resources?

In a similar vein, riverfront events have caused increasing pressure on public trash receptacles and outright littering. When will the riverfront and nearby neighborhoods receive better public trash and recycling infrastructure? Will there be recycling and composting at the new amphitheater?

Oregon Hill residents have had to complain to the police about multiple loud noise disturbances from concerts at Brown’s Island with varying levels of response. The Oregon Hill neighborhood has been very tolerant of the Folk Festival weekend over the years. The amphitheater is aimed at the Va. War Memorial, a place of quiet contemplation. Is Jack Berry’s desire to have more events at Tredegar Green consistent with the Commonwealth’s obligations to respect the Va. War Memorial? The City’s Zoning Administrator determined that the “temporary event” ordinance did not exempt the owner from complying with the noise ordinance. What recourse will Oregon Hill residents have with future loud noise disturbances from concerts at this new, much closer concert site? How will this noise effect wildlife on our riverfront? Will Venture Richmond be held accountable? Perhaps more importantly, how will the City address this and the noise ordinance in general?

There were repeated requests from the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association and the Overlook Condo Association for Venture Richmond to agree to curfews and some restrictions on the new amphitheater operations in the interest of giving Venture Richmond a chance to forge a better relationship with the neighborhood. OHNA received no response. The Overlook Condo Association received a cursory, noncommittal response. If Venture Richmond is a ‘public-private partnership’, why does it treat the public with such disrespect?

What are future plans for this riverfront area? There are plans to build a connection from the current pedestrian bridge over the canal to the Belle Island pedestrian bridge. Will citizens continue to have direct public pedestrian access to Tredegar Street and the river from Oregon Hill, as they have had for generations, in addition to this new connection? This goes directly back to the City’s Master Plan, which cost a lot of taxpayers’ time and money, and done with much input from citizens. Again, what is the City government doing to follow its own planning? Why is the City’s Riverfront Plan being used to ‘water down’ the tenets of the City’s Master Plan? What is being done to preserve and protect remaining public resources from increasing privatization of the riverfront?