From Tess’ article:
Oregon Hill Overlook (Oregon Hill)
At S. Laurel Street and Oregon Hill Parkway
At the southern edge of the neighborhood along Oregon Hill Parkway, the ground drops off steeply toward the river below. The hill is not a very long one, but makes for a quick and exciting ride. Very small children probably won’t enjoy it as much as the grown-ups, though.
Bonus killer view: Of the snowy river and Downtown.
I wonder if we will ever see any of these (click here for Treehugger .com link) proposals from this wildlife crossing design contest for going over 195?
Fantastic? Maybe. In the meantime, I am wondering about the new canal bridge.
From a neighbor:
From Oregon Hill resident Todd Woodson:
In 2008 a Monroe Park Master Plan was adopted by the City to make much needed improvements to the City’s oldest Park. Among the many improvements are to restore the dilapidated concrete sidewalks on its perimeter from cracked and perished concrete slab to brick pavers with substantial green growing strips to plant new street trees. The benefits are many- brick pavers are porous so runoff wont be sent into the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the planting strips promote healthier street trees, repairs can be made in small areas should anything happen and they are historic and look great.
So I was pleasantly surprised to see a big part of the sidewalk on Laurel street across from the Landmark Theatre pulled up yesterday for renovation. Upon speaking with the contractor and a city worker, my worst fears were realized: VCU had requested the sidewalks be replaced as they were dangerous to their students and the City, in its haste to obey, contracted the entire sidewalk- from Franklin to Main, to be demolished and replaced with- no not brick pavers and trees as the Master Plan dictates, but concrete slabs- which would be ripped up for the correct fix in the next few years. Surely the sidewalks need replacing but they haven’t changed in the last 25+ years, so what’s with the haste?
One should ask “Was VCU NOT aware of the Monroe Park master plan before their request?”. The answer is not only is VCU aware of it, but they participated in its creation.
I measured the area today and it is 860 feet long by 15 feet wide comprising a square footage of 12,900. At an estimated $5 a square foot to pour the concrete, the bill for this two year fix is $64,500.00 and with the second demolition, this boondoggle could swell to well over 100 grand. That’s YOUR taxpayer dollars wasted, Richmond friends.
Hoping to stem off this waste, I contacted the interim Director of Public Works, the auditor Umesh Dalal and many other denizens of the city payroll a day before the pouring and advised them of the conflict. Still, the trucks showed up today and a section of the sidewalk was poured and screed- INCONSISTENT to the Master Plan. I think most of City Hall has gone home for the holiday, leaving their mistakes to burn us in their absence.
I respectfully request that the City of Richmond and its contractors, cease all non conforming repair work on Monroe Park sidewalks and deliberate once you return to work and proceed with fixing the sidewalks RIGHT the FIRST TIME and stop WASTING our money. You are aware of the Master Plan.
Some neighbors are getting together to form their own Thanksgiving tradition- playing some pick up soccer. Click here for Facebook page.
Well, I hoping to get a short and decisive answer to a ‘quick’ question about Monroe Park controversy, but then this is Richmond…The answer, judging from the overall comments (which I have since closed), is that Food Not Bombs will be allowed to serve in Monroe Park after renovations are done. Keep in mind that Michael Paul Williams raised the specter of a negative possibility in his newspaper column before the question was posed here. If anyone has new facts to share on the answer to that question, please do send them in.
Now, for a second question. Again, there are a lot of important questions in regard to this controversy, but the idea is to be objective and get to the facts.
Does Monroe Park have to be fully closed during all renovations?
Just a little background- Monroe Park Advisory Council (MPAC) has said that they invited Food Not Bombs to meetings on the renovations, but they did not take part. The City of Richmond says that Monroe Park must be fully closed while it is undergoing renovations due to logistics and expenses.
Food Not Bombs has demanded that at least two acres of the Park remain open during renovations in order to continue serving food there.
Unfortunately, the controversy over the Monroe Park renovations and the feeding programs continues to grow, with the media circling.
Here’s a simple question:
Will Food Not Bombs be allowed to serve food in Monroe Park after renovations are done?
Yes or No?
Is there a definitive, official answer?
Of course there are other important questions in regard to this, but it seems to me that this needs to be answered first by civic leadership to dispel or confirm some of the fear and distrust that surround the issue. I might add, without injecting further personal opinion, that there is a history to this that you may or may not agree with.
(Alright, a little more personal opinion: there are a few citizens on different sides of the issue, and they know who they are, who are doing what they can to keep lines of communication open and they deserve appreciation).
Looks like this was a great time (and cause)!
