Category Archives: parks

OHHIC Comment On City’s Richmond Inspire Plan

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From submitted email:

Dear Director Frelke and the Richmond Inspire planning team,

Please find the attached comment from the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council (OHHIC) regarding the draft Richmond Inspire plan.
We appreciate the work that the Parks Department is doing to improve the city’s parks. We are especially grateful for the excellent work of the very devoted Capital Projects Planner Ryan Rinn in directing the improvements for Oregon Hill’s Holly Street Playground with funding from the American Rescue Plan.
However, the Board of OHHIC strongly objects to the unfair and inequitable placement of most of the Oregon Hill Historic District in the “Lower Priority” [that is, the LOWEST priority] category of the Richmond Inspire Equity Investment Zone classifications in the Richmond Inspire plan.
As detailed in the attached comment, Oregon Hill was a redlined neighborhood with the lowest “Fourth Grade” security rating. As a result of this redlining, Oregon Hill suffered many decades of neglect and deferred maintenance of its park infrastructure. The Oregon Hill neighborhood, therefore, must be placed in the “Highest Priority” Equity Investment Zone category.
Thank you for your consideration of the recommendations of the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council, which has successfully worked for over 30 years to improve the quality of life in the Oregon Hill neighborhood.

Sincerely,
Charles Pool
For the Board of the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council

Click here for attached comment. Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council comment on Richmond Inspire parks plan March 2026

Recent Photos

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Work continues on new VHDA parking deck.

Older, utility alley brought back to life with new gravel. From update from City’s Parks & Rec Dept.: “re: Holly St Playground: On January 12 DPU is scheduled to begin a sewer cleanout, which should take about 2 weeks. They will also evaluate the back part of the area for structural issues.”

This time of year, deer hang out on a quieter Belle Island.

Dawn on North Bank Trail along the James River & Kanawha Canal.

Protest Against ICE in Monroe Park Tomorrow

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From announcement:

Emergency Rally! Today we keep our eyes out for ICE! Tomorrow, no matter what, we demand ICE Out of Virginia!

Following a noticeable increase in reports of ICE activity in the Greater Richmond area, we received a tip from a trusted source that 180 federal immigration agents have been sent to the city by the federal government, as of Jan. 16th.

In response to this violent and unwarranted escalation, Virginia Immigrants for Life, Liberation, Autonomy and Solidarity (VILLAS) and The Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality will be holding a rally this Sunday, Jan 18 at 2PM at Monroe Park in Richmond, VA.

Join us in demanding that ICE get out of our state and that local and state officials take concrete measures to protect our communities against ICE aggression!

Let’s demonstrate our love and care for our neighbors by coming together in power and solidarity to say that we are NOT afraid and will NOT allow ICE to terrorize us. ICE is already here, it is up to us to meet the moment.

We keep us safe! In that spirit, please assess your own risk before joining.

To contrast the emptiness and coldness of white supremacy, let’s make this rally colorful and bright. See you there!

Caroling In Monroe Park On Sunday

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While Oregon Hill neighbors are organizing caroling for this Saturday evening, the Grace & Holy Trinity Church is hosting caroling in Monroe Park on Sunday.
“The Greater Richmond Children’s Choir, Hood Temple Music Ministry, RVA Street Singers, Grace & Holy Trinity Vocal Ensemble, and a brass quintet will lead Christmas carols for this fifth annual holiday event. There will be a holiday market, food trucks, and fun children’s activities starting at 3:00 p.m. The brass quintet music will begin at 4:15 p.m. with caroling following at 4:30 p.m.”

By the way, if you are not a fan of traditional holiday fare, you may want to check out this playlist by David Byrne, who had a show at the Altria Theater earlier this year-
https://www.davidbyrne.com/radio/david-byrne-radio-presents-christmas

Update On Holly Street Playground Renovation

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The last Oregon Hill neighborhood Association meeting included an informal report from the City’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities

– Holly Street Playground Updates (Provided by Ryan Rinn)
• Work has started on the restroom upgrades which will include:
◦ Resizing the doors to be ADA Accessible
◦ A new roof
◦ New fixtures
◦ New automatic locking doors that will be set to open at sunrise and lock at sunset (if anyone wants to see the mechanism they can check out the new modular restroom facility in Bryan Park by the playground there)
◦ New paint
◦ ADA access ramp into facility
• We are awaiting guidance from DPU regarding some stormwater upgrades they have planned for the site before we plan other major improvements to the park. We should know by the end of October what their work schedule will be and what impacts it will have on the park, and planned park upgrades
• We have received permission to move a playground we had slated for another site, and issued a purchase order for, to Holly Street. I will be working with the representative from Kompan to provide some options for the community to review based on the approved conceptual plans.
◦ I do not yet have full details on what this means, except that the $400K budget will go further to implement additional community priorities beyond the playground features. I will be able to provide a full update in November.