Corner of Belvidere and Holly. I think these might be left over from the Richmond Marathon.
Bottles
2
VCU Photo Archives Online
A VCU employee and resident shared this information:
Hello Everyone,
Of interest to fellow Oregon Hill residents might be our newly uploaded digital collection of an Architectural Survey. This collection includes both Jackson Ward and Oregon Hill. From the home page, “This collection contains data sheets that identify and evaluate over 600 structures located in Richmond’s Jackson Ward and Oregon Hill neighborhoods. The surveys were compiled by the City of Richmond’s Department of Planning and Community Development in the mid-1970s. The evaluations were intended to be used in preservation plans and for city planning as a whole. These data sheets predate the standard survey forms used in Virginia used since the 1980s”. To access the collection, visit the URL below, and click on the blue button, Browse Collection. Then you can choose to select Oregon Hill which has 277 images from photographs and survey forms. Have fun viewing the history of our neighborhood!
Report From VCU Master Plan Meeting
A resident reports back from a new VCU Master Plan meeting (reposted here with permission):
Hi all-
I attended a meeting for community members wednesday afternoon to give initial concerns toward the new VCU masterplan getting ready to be shaped. Other community members from the Fan, Monroe Ward and MCV community were there as well.
There was an OVERWHELMING consensus among all the neighborhoods represented that past VCU administration had not kept their word on previous masterplans nor on individual agreements they had made with them.
I said that Oregon Hill REQUIRES a legally binding agreement to establish a boundary of Cary Street which VCU cannot cross. The moderators told the group that the current enrollment had leveled off and that they were concentrating on improving what they have, maybe adding up to 500 faculty members in the next 6 to 9 years.
Other concerns I brought forth were the need for the roundabout and 2 way traffic on Idlewood between Cherry and Harrison so VCU cars getting off the Downtown Expressway can turn to go toward the Harrison street parking deck without going through Oregon Hill causing congestion. In addition I stressed accountability for all of their facilities including the parking problems which were exacerbated by the building of the new rec center.
We desperately need support from our Councilperson on meeting these goals for improving quality of life issues in Oregon Hill regarding VCU’s presence.
Your neighborhood association meets every 4th Tuesday of the month at William Byrd Community House at 7PM. Please come out and get involved to make Oregon Hill a better place to live!
Thanks.
Holly Street Park Improvements Coming
The City’s Parks and Rec Dept. is moving forward on new playground plans for Holly Street Park. As agreed by Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association‘s Holly Street Park committee, the first step will be removing the large overhang attached to the playground house. This will open up the area visually and prevent folks from hiding/sleeping in the area. The old playground equipment will be removed and new equipment installed beginning the week of December 1st. The sand will be replaced with engineered wood fiber.
Click here for a pdf of the new playground plan.
After this portion is completed, the committee can look at locations for new tree plantings.
Oregon Hill Tour: ‘Solid & Steady’
Annie Tobey took a Historic Richmond tour of the neighborhood this past month and wrote about it as part of the Yahoo Contributor Network.
From the article:
During my October tour, Halloween decorations added a bit of fun to the 19th century facades. The houses are modest and still primarily middle class and exude a sense of being solid and dependable. The architecture tells interesting tales, with some rows of matching homes interspersed with unique structures.
The Big Sleep At Main Street Library Tomorrow
The James River Film Society continues its Film for Lunch series at the library this winter in the basement auditorium, with Great Adaptations of the Silver Screen on Thursdays at noon on 17 and December 1. It’s free, but donations are accepted. You are encouraged to bring your lunch. All films will be projected in 16mm.
Tomorrow:
4th Precinct CAPS Meeting on Thursday
From announcement:
Although the MPACT meeting for November has been changed, the Fourth Precinct Community Assisted Public Safety (CAPS) meeting will be held:
Date: November 17, 2011
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: Linwood Holton Elementary School
1600 W Laburnum Ave
Our Fourth Precinct team would like to take this opportunity to hear your CAPS concerns and get to know you better.
We look forward to seeing you on the 17th.
Renegade Market Today
From email announcement:
a few reminders…
11/15: Byrd House Renegade Market Tuesday, 3-Sunset
11/16 & 11/30: Vegan 101 Wednesdays, 6-8pm
11/19: Cooking as a 2nd Language: Rescheduled from October – Senegalese Cuisine with Ndeye Diallo of the Goree African Restaurant in Shockoe Bottom – Register by Wednesday at 5pm!
12/7: Va Friends of Mali Open House & Welcome Day, 4-8pm
12/16-18: WBCH Tacky Light Tours, details at wbch.org
www.byrdhousemarket.blogspot.com
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Byrd House Market
William Byrd Community House
224 South Cherry St. Richmond, VA 23220
America Recycles Day Tuesday But Curbside Pickup Is Wednesday
Tuesday, November 15 is America Recycles Day.
From local announcement:
Electronics recycling collection and document shredding event takes place from 10 am to 3 pm Tuesday at Retail Merchants Association headquarters, 5100 Monument Ave. Recycle up to one pickup truck load of electronics; drop off aluminum and steel cans, cardboard, paper, plastic and glass bottles. Free. www.cvwma.com
That said, this Wednesday is one of those every other week, “Red Wednesdays” for Oregon Hill curbside pickup. Don’t treat your recycling bin like an everyday trash can that sits on the sidewalk. Fill it with with recyclable materials, put it out this Wednesday morning and then take it back to your own property after it is emptied.
By recycling 1 plastic bottle not only saves anywhere from 100 to 1000 years in the landfill but also saves the environment from the emissions in producing new bottles as well as the oil used to produce that bottle.
For every 1 ton of plastic that is recycled we save the equivalent of 2 people’s energy use for 1 year, the amount of water used by 1 person in 2 month’s time and almost 2000 pounds of oil.
Today the most common products in cities recycling programs are paper products, cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum.
Approximately 60% of our rubbish thrown away today could be recycled.
A survey was done and 9 out of 10 people surveyed said they would recycle more if it was easier. Odd as it seems there are many people who do not realize that plastic bottles our water comes in is made out of oil. This is the same oil that is used to make gasoline. It’s the same oil that is in such high demand and is not an unlimited resource.
“Oregon Hill” the novel (not yet published)
It will be interesting to see how this book release is received. However, that won’t be for another 8 months or so.
From Amazon.com page:
Willie Black has squandered a lot of things in his life – his liver, his lungs, a couple of former wives and a floundering daughter can all attest to his abuse. He’s lucky to be employed, having managed to drink and smart-talk his way out of a nice, cushy job covering (and partying with) the politicians down at the capitol.
Now, he’s back on the night corps beat, right where he started when he came to work for the Richmond paper almost 30 years ago. The thing Willie’s always had going for him, though, all the way back to his hardscrabble days as a mixed-race kid on Oregon Hill, where white was the primary color and fighting was everyone’s favorite leisure pastime, was grit. His mother, the drug-addled Peggy, gave him that if nothing else. He never backed down then, and he shows no signs of changing.
When a co-ed at the local university where Willie’s daughter is a perpetual student is murdered, her headless body found along the South Anna River, the hapless alleged killer is arrested within days. Everyone but Willie seems to think: Case Closed. But Willie, against the orders and advice of his bosses at the paper, the police and just about everyone else, doesn’t think the case is solved at all. He embarks on a one-man crusade to do what he’s always done: get the story.
On the way, Willie runs afoul of David Junior Shiflett, a nightmare from his youth who’s now a city cop, and awakens another dark force, one everyone thought disappeared a long time ago. And a score born in the parking lot of an Oregon Hill beer joint 40 years ago will finally be settled.
The truth is out there. Willie Black’s going to dig it out or die trying.