Category Archives: parks

Community Movie Night This Friday: ‘The Natural’

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From announcement:

(This Friday at 7pm) join us in Pleasants Park for the final movie of our 24th season of our Oregon Hill Community Movies for a showing of Robert Redford’s The Natural.
The Natural is a 1984 American sports drama film starring Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs, a gifted, but troubled, baseball player. Directed by Barry Levinson and based on the 1952 novel by Bernard Malamud, the movie is known for its mythic, romanticized portrayal of baseball and its dramatic, feel-good ending.
As always, free refreshments served: grilled hotdogs, sides, desserts, and beverages.

Editor’s note: Actor Robert Redford, a true ‘movie star’, passed away earlier this month. He will be remembered for a magnificent body of work, but he will also be fondly remembered for 1) his environmentalism, 2) his support for young and emerging movie talent.

This Friday’s Community Movie Night: Fly Away Home

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From FaceBook event page:

Join us for our Outdoor Movie in Oregon Hill’s Pleasants Park. We will be showing “Fly Away Home.”After Amy (Anna Paquin) loses her mother in a car accident, she must uproot her life and move to Canada to live with her father, Thomas, (Jeff Daniels), an oddball inventor with whom she has no relationship. She initially struggles to find her her place in her new home, but things change when she stumbles upon a collection of abandoned goose eggs. When the eggs hatch, Amy and her dad work together teaching the motherless birds to fly south for the winter, and their relationship blooms.
As always free refreshments served: Grilled hotdogs, sides, desserts, and beverages.
Note New Start Time: 7:00 PM

City’s Response On Belle Island Parking Lot Is Lacking

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Another followup editorial…
Once the media inquiries started to come in, the City (Parks & Rec?) finally responded with a blanket statement:

For public safety and crowd control, on Amphitheatre concert days the Richmond Police Department closes Brown’s Island Way at S. 2nd Street and Tredegar Street and closes Tredegar Street between 5th and Brown’s Island Way, to vehicular traffic. This closure with the addition of closing the Tredegar Street parking lot helps ensure effective traffic and crowd management by providing organized staging zones, designated parking for staff and volunteers, and safe pedestrian access.

The City has entered into a paid, month-to-month trial lease agreement with Allianz Amphitheater/ Live Nation, granting use of the 60 parking spaces in the Belle Isle parking lot on select specific days and times to support event operations. This parking lot closure is a similar model used for RiverRock and Folk festival. The Tredegar Street Belle Isle parking lot is partially owned by the City of Richmond and Venture Richmond. Venture Richmond has also approved the use of their section of the parking lot for this endeavor.

Remaining dates that the Belle Isle parking lot will be offline for the month of July are:
Tuesday, July 15 (8:00 AM – 12:00 AM)
Wednesday, July 16 (8:00 AM – 12:00 AM)
Thursday, July 17 (8:00 AM – 12:00 AM)
Saturday, July 19 (1:00 PM – 12:00 AM)
Thursday, July 24 (1:00 PM – 12:00 AM)
Saturday, July 26 (1:00 PM – 12:00 AM)

Many of Richmond’s reporters did their usual copying and pasting of this press statement, and sadly, as expected, some added, in a very ‘Trumpian’ fashion, their own complaints about ‘complainers’ who challenged this ‘big, beautiful’ new amphitheater and the might of Venture Richmond. ‘How dare citizens speak up!’ was the chastising tone.

A couple of problems with this-

First of all, closing the Belle Isle Parking lot is contrary to the Venture Richmond lease agreement.

Secondly, they are closing the parking lot for entire days, and also from 12 noon other days, for employee parking, so this has little to do with security during events.

Brown’s Island Way is kept open most of the day. The Dominion Energy headquarters is at the end of Tredegar St. and these employees, of course, need access through Brown’s Island Way. This lot is not being closed for security, but to provide parking for amphitheater employees. (Or is there more to it? Neighbors who attended last night’s concert said that lot attendants told them that they are selling the lot as “VIP parking”, at least for last night’s show.)

Thirdly, the Allianz amphitheater is being given over $30 million in City subsidies and is a for-profit enterprise. They can well afford to rent another lot for their employees without depriving public use of the Belle Isle parking lot.

This parking lot closure is not similar to RiverRock and the Folk Festival, which are free non-profit events organized by Venture Richmond. Venture Richmond’s lease specifically allows them to close the Belle Isle parking lot for limited events, like the Folk Festival, that are organized by Venture Richmond. The Allianz amphitheater, by contrast is a private for-profit venue which is charging handsome prices for admittance and food. The Allianz events are not organized by Venture Richmond.

One point that may have been overlooked in all of this is that this lot is incredibly important for disabled access to Belle Isle. Southside access to the park is not the same.
Again, taking the only parking lot for Richmond’s most popular park for private functions is outrageous!

Lastly, if the lot is owned by the City of Richmond and Venture Richmond then is it a public parking lot or not? Upon further investigation, the land is owned by the City’s Department of Public Works. PUBLIC!

This is not the first time that the neighbors have fought to keep the Belle Isle parking lot open to the public for visiting the park.
In March 2021 a sign went up on the Belle Isle parking lot closing it to the public.

Oregon Hill residents immediately protested and pointed out that this was contrary to the Venture Richmond lease, and the lot was re-opened to the public the next day.
Now, once again, Venture Richmond is trying to close the only parking lot for Belle Isle for private functions.

It would be nice if local reporters could get off their duffs and not just reiterate whatever the local PTB (“Powers That Be”) feed them.
People complain about ‘complainers’, but there is more at stake than people think.

Fascism, Richmond-Style

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Still no real coverage from the local corporate media, so another pointed editorial..,

Remember when “Brown’s Island Way” or whatever it is called was built, citizens were told it was for public access to the riverfront? Well now it is being closed down with barriers for a private amphitheater concert.

This is in addition to the Belle Island parking lot, owned by Richmond’s Department of Public Works, but managed by James River Park, being closed, except for use by the Allianz Amphitheater employees or their contractors or whatever.

Interestingly enough, the only ‘official’ statement on this was made by Venture Richmond and shared yesterday in a social media post by the James River Park.
It read:

IMPORTANT INFO -PLEASE READ
The Tredegar/Belle Isle parking lot, Tredegar Street, Brown’s Island Way, and S. 5th Street will all be closed from the morning of July 15 to midnight on July 17 for load in, load out, and general security of and for the Dave Matthews concert.

This post was later taken down in haste.

Again, it is important to recognize that closing the Belle Isle parking lot for private amphitheater use is in violation of Venture Richmond’s lease agreement, which requires the parking to be open for public use. In addition, there is nothing in the $30+ million tax rebate from the City about the amphitheater having the authority to take over the Belle Isle parking lot.

Taking the only parking lot for Richmond’s most popular park for private functions is outrageous!

Supposedly this is temporary, but it calls everything into question.

And, no, it is not nearly as egregious or horrible as ICE overreach, the gutting of federal agencies, or the use of armed forces against civilians, but make no mistake about it, when government colludes with corporate powers (and vice versa) to STEAL from the public and prevent public access, it is another form of fascism.

Here in Richmond, VA, we dress this local fascism in public/private partnerships like Venture Richmond, concealed by big institutions like VCU (that are increasingly under corporate influence), make excuses about commerce and tax flows, all the while hiding behind a mostly silent and bought City Council. Sadly, citizens who have been here a while are all too familiar with it. Our increasingly strained environment bears it the best it can.

Many just look the other way and cheer when Venture Richmond makes an entertainment announcement for the next ‘public’ festival. Don’t expect it be among the polite chatter for the ultra-wealthy attending their private ‘DMB’ bro fest this evening or next. Beer prices are more likely the topic of conversation.

Hopefully we will eventually see someone else write/say something about this small parking lot matter, but don’t forget this moment. And please don’t forget it the next time that Richmond PTB (Powers That Be) decide to limit or take away real public ownership of the riverfront, our neighborhoods, information, or anything else.

We have stepped over the line from dealing with an increasingly corporate society and government to living in fascist times.

Amphitheater Closing Belle Island Parking Lot

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Editor’s Note: Closing the Belle Isle parking lot for private amphitheater use is in violation of Venture Richmond’s lease agreement, which requires the parking to be open for public use.

OUR PUBLIC PARKS ARE NOT LIVENATION’s PARKING LOTS!

Once again, we see the City leadership/’business community’, Powers That Be (PTB), whatever you want to call them, putting corporate priorities over public ones.
Someone needs to SLAP THEM HARD IN THE FACE, otherwise, they will keep coming back, trying to TAKE from the public. (Like they are doing with their Richmond300 rezoning).