This past weekend Oregon Hill residents and businesses saw something new- a printed version of OregonHill.net. The special 4-page release was in part to welcome new residents to the neighborhood and in part to hopefully recruit new advertisers. Thanks to the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council for contributing to printing costs.
From VCU Police communication:
To the VCU and VCU Health Communities,
This Wednesday, Aug. 3, the Virginia Commonwealth University and City of Richmond police departments will conduct an active shooter training exercise on the Monroe Park Campus between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.
This training gives police an opportunity to practice a coordinated response to a VCU building, which is critical in an active shooter incident.
This daylong exercise consists of a simulated emergency in which a single shooter is inside the Shafer Street Playhouse. The exercise will be realistic, with simulated sounds inside the building, including gunfire and crowd panic.
On Aug. 3, text messages will be sent to VCU Alert subscribers prior to and at the conclusion of the training. If you do not receive VCU alerts, please sign up for alerts online. Information about the exercise and a map of the area is posted on alert.vcu.edu. Questions can be directed to the VCU Police non-emergency dispatch line at (804) 828-1196.
Impacts to the campus will be minimal, but are necessary for training purposes.
· Franklin Street will be closed between Harrison and Laurel streets, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Vehicle access will also be closed to Shafer Street between Franklin and Grace streets during the same time.
· The area around the Shafer Street Playhouse will be clearly marked with signs and security officers will be on-site to answer questions and direct pedestrian traffic.· Pedestrian traffic between Franklin Street and the Shafer Street Playhouse will be closed intermittently while the exercise is in session.
This exercise will take place in lieu of VCU’s monthly siren test. A full test of VCU’s alert system is scheduled for Sept. 7.
Throughout the year, VCU Police officers offer active shooter response training for groups of VCU and VCU Health students, faculty and staff. Training requests can be emailed to crimeprevreq@vcu.edu. Active shooter safety information and an educational video on the “Run. Hide. Fight.” method for personal safety during such incidents is always available on the VCU Police website.I ask that each and every member of the university community stay vigilant throughout the year and report any suspicious behavior to police immediately. All tips are investigated and we need each of you to help keep our campuses safe.
Sincerely,
Chief John Venuti, VCU Police Department
Assistant Vice President for Public Safety
I don’t know of any National Night Out celebrations in Oregon Hill tomorrow night (sometimes Pine Street Baptist hosts a community movie in Pleasants Park for NNO), but Randolph Neighborhood Association has extended an invite to Oregon Hill residents to join theirs. (One technical note: Oregon Hill is served by the Fourth Precinct, while Randolph is in the Third).
It’s a street cleaning week.
From a neighbor:
***PLEASE MOVE YOUR CARS*** On One Block Alone, I See 13 Cars About to Get Towed. Please TELL YOUR NEIGHBORS to move their cars. Street Cleaning begins today (Monday 8/1). (The illegally parked cars are residents, not commuters).
Also, Cherry Street neighbor Jimmy Blackford requests help-
Who’d Like to Help Me Augment the City Street Sweepers this Monday & Tuesday Morning? . . . Great opportunity to sweep the dead vegetation off the sidewalks & scrape the grass from around the storm drains (thus preventing thunderstorm drainage backups). Plus other tasks you might recommend. . . . . I’ll try to start @ 8:30 or 9:30 am each day. I have some heavy duty scrapers, shovels, rakes & push brooms, but could use more. . . . You may not be joining those mornings. Still, before the sweepers come along, I ask you to sweep the sidewalk in front of your homes (and beyond???). . . . . . Message me at prairiegates@hotmail.com.
Ok, I might be stretching the term ‘edifice’, but neighbor Todd Woodson and Richard Lee Bland have been sharing some research on the fountain in Monroe Park on the FaceBook group Fans of Monroe Park.
Todd cited this passage:
“In 1872, Colonel Albert Ordway, Provost Marshal for Virginia (who lived close to the park) donated the park’s first fountain, built of stone, but city council rejected a petition from the “citizens near Monroe Park” for $2,500 in additional improvements. The requested improvements included a brick wall about two feet high around the park to prevent the embankment from washing on the pavement, granite post and chain to enclose the fountain, twenty iron seats, granite steps at the gates and for putting up the fountain donated by Colonel Ordway”.
From The Ghosts and Glories of Monroe Park- a Sesquicentennial History by David M. Clinger 1998.
Now quoting and paraphrasing Richard Lee Bland:
The history of (a later) fountain is very sketchy. Mary Wingfield Scott fixed the date of its appearance in the park in 1908. This stone pyramid precede but no dates to confirm.. In 1896 the original memorial to Jefferson Davis was intended to be at the park, a large colossal temple. The cornerstone was laid, but the project was abandoned. The 1970 article at the collapse states, “the fountain’s original upper tiers, which broke off many years ago, were replaced by new ones during a 1961 renovation.” Memories are both short and imperfect. I will comment the 1908 date is interesting due a four tier fountain once stood in Gamble’s Hill Park, overlooking the James River, now owned by Ethel Corporation.
The theory is that the Gamble’s Hill fountain was moved to Monroe Park in 1908 and that is the one there now. Here is a 1962 News Leader newspaper clipping where Mary Winfield Scott made that observation:
An old photo of the fountain at Gamble’s Hill near Pratt’s Castle.
Here is an old painting of the fountain in Monroe Park that is in the Special Collections at the VCU library:
So, in terms of present edifices, an old and persistent hoarder has started to create a pile in Monroe Park. This woman is infamous for having done the same sort of thing in the Fan and Oregon Hill previously.
This adds on to the current perception that the City and Monroe Park Conservancy are not being adequate stewards to historic Monroe Park. Still, young people continue to flock to Monroe Park to play Pokemon.
Nisa Thai finally opened last night on S. Belvidere Street and is ready to take your order. I think this is the first Asian food restaurant in what is technically part of Oregon Hill.
From RAIDSonline.com:
THEFT FROM MOTOR VEHICLE
3XX TREDEGAR ST
Jul 28, 2016 at 3:00 pm
Data provided by Richmond Police DepartmentEXTORTION/BLACKMAIL
8XX HOLLY ST
Jul 28, 2016 at 8:45 am
Data provided by Richmond Police DepartmentCITY CODE VIOLATIONS – OPEN CONTAINER
X BELLE ISLE
Jul 28, 2016 at 12:40 pm
Data provided by Richmond Police DepartmentHIT AND RUN
2XX S LAUREL ST
Jul 26, 2016 at 11:30 pm
Data provided by Richmond Police DepartmentCITY CODE VIOLATIONS – OPEN CONTAINER
X BELLE ISLE
Jul 26, 2016 at 3:15 pm
Data provided by Richmond Police Department
From posting:
Our cat, Echo is missing from the 400 block of Laurel. She is a domestic short hair. Calico with a split face—half black the other orange and white. Very sweet but she doesn’t ever wander out so we are very worried. If found please call 225-8921.
If you missed the Byrd Theater showing, here’s another chance to see this locally made zombie film at Mojo’s:
From FaceBook event page:
Encore screening of REVILED Ep. 2 – the latest installment of Richmond filmmaker Jim Stramel’s zombie vs zombie pit fighting series. Starring Randall Robinson, J.R. Foster and Lee Reynolds and Featuring Sara Carpenter. Music by Angry Johnny and the Killbilles NOT RATED: Contains Foul Language, Violence and Questionable Taste – FREE