Mamma Zu’s will be closed for its annual vacation during the UCI Bicycle Race.
Music store Vinyl Conflict will also close during the race.
The City’s Main Street library will be closed, as their facility will be used by race organizers.
What are other neighborhood businesses doing while the race is happening?
Looks like this Belvidere mural is just getting underway in time for the big race.
Some choice excerpts from the Times Dispatch article:
Monroe Park will not host a designated fan zone during the UCI 2015 Road World Championships despite plans to the contrary and tens of thousands of dollars in city expense to improve the space.
A sponsor that loosely agreed to underwrite the celebration space in the Fan District switched gears in recent weeks, according to officials with Richmond 2015, the organization putting on the event.The group declined to name the sponsor but said it had shifted to another space along the course. Officials would not detail costs associated with sponsoring a zone at the park. The move did not affect fundraising, they said.
…
Todd Woodson, who lives in neighboring Oregon Hill, said the city had squandered taxpayers’ money.
“We’re in a crisis of leadership in this city and we’re hemorrhaging money,” Woodson said.
About 300 feet of a water line along Franklin Street was damaged during work done this spring, officials said at the time. How much the damage cost was unclear Monday. City officials were not able to provide an estimate.
From Richmond2015 email:
Richmond 2015, the organizers of the UCI Road World Championships will host a series of informational meetings to help the community “Get Race Ready”!
During these meetings the community can learn from race officials about the race routes and schedules, the traffic management plan, where to party and how they can get engaged with this once in a generation opportunity to see the best cyclists in the World race through their backyards.
The series of meetings will take place daily the first two weeks of August at various times and locations throughout the region. See below and attached for a schedule of these public meetings.
Please share this information with your customers, patrons, members, employees, etc. As well as on your webpages, social media pages, etc. to help Richmond 2015 reach those who live, work and play in the impacted areas.
Councilperson Agelasto mentioned at a meeting that a series of murals will be painted on the wall separating Oregon Hill from Belvidere Street in time for the UCI Road World Championships. Style Weekly includes some information in its roundup of bike race related art exhibitions.
To cheer up the race route, four well-known Richmond artists — Ed Trask, Matt Lively, Greg Leach and Hamilton Glass — plan to paint murals on a 7-foot-tall wall stretching for four blocks from Belvidere to Oregon Hill, Trask says.
On Saturday, June 6, Brown’s Island will host the 2015 Be the Match Walk & Run. The course suggests that there may be traffic delays on the Lee Memorial Bridge and Manchester Bridge beginning at 7:00 am.
China Street neighbor Manny left the following message on the the 4th Annual OHSOCiT Oregonhill soccer invitational FaceBook Event page:
I appreciate all the team captains and everyone who will be participating in this event. This can’t happen unless there is enough dedicated interest within the soccer community here in RVA. Special thanks goes out to Kevin Carter, Jeremy Clemmons, Michael Delano, Daniel Pegram, Joseph Russell. To those who I just mentioned by name, see you all at 8:30am Saturday at the field.
Manny is also looking for volunteer help for tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon that can help prepare the Oregon Hill soccer field for this fund raising tournament.
Phil Riggan, who now writes the “Why Richmond, Why?” column for the Richmond Times Dispatch, earlier this week presented his final project for his VCU studies, a plan for making the Kanawha Canal between Oregon Hill and Bosher’s Dam into a recreational ‘blueway” for the James River Park system.
Click here for a copy of his presentation. A full written report/plan should be available in the near future after Riggan makes some final edits.
A couple of points about the plan- It was made with the help of the Friends of James River Park and the James River Outdoor Coalition. Nathan Burrell, the Director of James River Park, afterwards remarked that he thought it was actionable and doable now, as long as there was permission of stakeholders (CSX, Department of Public Utilities (DPU), and others) and available financial resources. It has already received letters of support from the James River Association and the Falls of the James Scenic River Advisory Committee.
Riggan knows about the 1988 canal restoration plan (the one that Venture Richmond ignored) and says he has included it in his final report. It is noteworthy that his plan starts with “Mile 1” at the start of the North Bank Trail near the S. Cherry cul-de-sac, and not “Mile 0” near the Lee Bridge. Riggan’s plan recognizes that DPU needs to complete engineering in order to get the water level right for recreational traffic (elevation verified at 83 feet). Some Oregon Hill neighbors are suspicious that perhaps that was the real goal of the Tredegar Green amphitheater, to damage the historic Kanawha Canal to the point where now the terminus of the “rewatered” canal is at “Mile 1”. That said, Riggan’s plan comes from a recreational paddling sport perspective and if it is successful, it may increase pressure for FULLY renovating, re-watering, and re-connecting Richmond’s historic canals.
The Virginia War Memorial 5K Run/Walk To Remember will be Saturday, April 18th. The race kicks off at the Memorial @ 8:30 a.m. and will be travelling through Oregon Hill between 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
Organizers are expecting 500+ participants and over 600 military running in formation. There will be Course Marshals and Fort Lee soldiers along the route and at each corner. Richmond City Police will be involved with the race too. Only 2nd street and Belvidere from Byrd Street to the Lee Bridge entrance ramp will be closed, but due to the number of participants there might be a few delays on the streets involved.
This race is a wonderful opportunity for the public to honor and remember veterans.
