Museum Developments in Richmond

[burt]

No, Coup; haven't heard anything in months about the Hippodrome. Was hoping that maybe someone in here might know something.

I think the rendering I saw of the Religious Freedom museum is ugly.

[wrldcoupe4]

No, Coup; haven't heard anything in months about the Hippodrome.  Was hoping that maybe someone in here might know something.

I think the rendering I saw of the Religious Freedom museum is ugly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yea...I don't know if the current design for the FFC will blend in well to the fabric of Shockoe Slip. It seems very bulky and modern. Maybe their design will be refined??? I vaguely remember hearing something about the Hippodrome. Maybe something about the people renovating it??? I'll have to look around though. I think it would be an awesome place to showcase local and renowned african american talents in the performing arts being that Jackson Ward was historically referred to as the Harlem of the South.

[burt]

As I said, the present-day Hipp is not an awsome place by anybody's stretch of imagination. Maybe, if what I saw about rejuvenating the building is true, there will be some hope of restoring it to a level of entertainment use.

[burt]

On another subject, if I knew how, I'd post today's column by Mark Holmberg in the RTD.

[eandslee]

On another subject, if I knew how, I'd post today's column by Mark Holmberg in the RTD.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey Burt, this is how you post a link to an article on this site:

First, copy the address of the web page of the article (you can just highlight the address in the address field and pres, Ctrl + C and that copies the address).

Then, come to this site and open a reply page (just as you do to reply to someone else's post and type the following (you can use this as a template when you want to put in a link to an article):

Article

When you submit the reply it will look like this:

Article

I hope this helps

Edited May 22, 2005 by eandslee

[burt]

I really appreciate your help, Eric, but I'm a very old dog who doesn't learn new tricks easily. Also, to show how perverse I am, I can access only the RTD pages that do not require LOGIN. I think their requirements, just recently implemented, are an invasion of privacy and so far I have refused to give in (probably will one of these days!) When I hit the highlighted ARTICLE that you posted above, up came the Login page. But I was able to read Mark's column because it was highlighted under a story about Wilder on the TD's free site today.

PS. I like your avatar promoting RIC.

[eandslee]

I really appreciate your help, Eric, but I'm a very old dog who doesn't learn new tricks easily.  Also, to show how perverse I am, I can access only the RTD pages that do not require LOGIN.  I think their requirements, just recently implemented, are an invasion of privacy and so far I have refused to give in (probably will one of these days!)  When I hit the highlighted ARTICLE that you posted above, up came the Login page.  But I was able to read Mark's column because it was highlighted under a story about Wilder on the TD's free site today.

PS.  I like your avatar promoting RIC.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Burt! For some reason, I'm all into the aviation industry and thought it would fit my personality well, while at the same time promote people to fly in and out of Richmond International. Anyway, about the RTD thing (signing in)...I noticed that the RTD was doing that about a month or so ago, so I signed in and I haven't had any problems with them at all. I haven't been solicited, nor have I gotten any extra solicitations from other agencies. I just figure that they wanted to gather statistics on people to determine where people who are reading the paper online live, their age, etc. I've just learned to ignore that kind of stuff unless I know for sure that they will abuse the information I give them. Besides, I didn't give them any vital information; just my name, maybe my age, and where I lived. No big deal to me. I think it's worth it to read the ENTIRE paper online. When you live in Montana, you do what you have to do!

[burt]

They're getting serious in their discussions about moving the White House of The Confederacy and the adjacent museum. It is being gobbled up by the VCU Medical Center (MCV), including on-going construction of a new 16 story tower going up next door.

Sites being scouted include an unidentified one near the Science Museum of Virginia (nee the old Broad Street Station).

Seems to me a logical location would be the Tredegar Iron Works on the Canal.

[wrldcoupe4]

I really hope they dont' move it. Not only will is lose its national historic landmark status, but the building will no longer be on the ground where President Davis surely took strolls. VCU should be working to preserve this, and even better exploit it as an academic tool for the university.

[wrldcoupe4]

rendering for the new expansion of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts via their website

[burt]

Thanks for posting these, coupe. I can't say it looks beautiful in my eye, but I'm sure the finished product will be appealing. A noted London architect, but not so noted that I remember his name, designed it.

I also read somewhere that a considerable amount of money is being provided by VDOT (or the State) for street improvements in the area. Does anybody know what the improvements will entail?

Edited August 15, 2005 by burt

[burt]

Rick Mather. That's the name of the London based architect.

[wrldcoupe4]

I heard about it also in one of Ray Macallister's columns.... Maybe for creating a new entrance for the new parking deck?

[urbanvb]

That's a great looking expansion. Richmond is on its way to becoming a very classy city.

[wrldcoupe4]

It already is! It's just that its own residents and outsiders don't realize it yet !!

[urbanvb]

well, more classy I should have said.

[wrldcoupe4]

hahaha...well I'm really looking forward to the finished product for this. A lot of the other museums in the area are currently expanding and there are a few new ones as well...

The First Freedom Center should be interesting as should the new museum at the Tredegar National Civil War Center. The Historical Society, just nearby the VMFA is already undergoing a major expansion. And the Architectural Center of Virginia just opened recently on Monument Ave.

[burt]

The Arts section of today's NYTimes has two big stories about VMFA director, Michael Brand. He has been accepted as the new Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The Getty has a $5 BILLION endowment. The $70 Million the Getty paid 2 years ago for a single painting, Titian's "Portrait of Alfonso d'Avalos" could have covered much of VMFA's upcoming expansion, according to news stories.

Obviously, our Mr. Brand is highly regarded in art circles. Who will replace him?

[wrldcoupe4]

hopefully someone just as good!

[vdogg]

Thanks for posting these, coupe.  I can't say it looks beautiful in my eye, but I'm sure the finished product will be appealing.  A noted London architect, but not so noted that I remember his name, designed it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It looks pretty neat on the inside. Very modern

[wrldcoupe4]

when things look modern like that I always wonder is they are as sturdy as something more traditional...they never seem like it!

[wrldcoupe4]

the science museum has unveiled $2 million worth of new interactive exhibits....sounds like it would've been a fun way to learn things about science as a kid....

"In the classroom, we have a teacher and a blackboard," Weber said.

"But in a museum you get all this. You get to work out science for yourself."

Museum exhibits are out of this world

[burt]

the science museum has unveiled $2 million worth of new interactive exhibits....sounds like it would've been a fun way to learn things about science as a kid....

Museum exhibits are out of this world

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I saw MYSTERY OF THE NILE on the Imax screen while I was at the Science Museum last week. Awsome!

[burt]

Richmond's "The" Boulevard is not exactly "le" Champs Elysee, but I really enjoyed its beauty last week. The full grown crepe myrtles in the median, the mostly well-kept apartment buildings and homes, and the row of museums are very impressive. Pity it was not renamed Arthur Ashe Boulevard with his statue in Byrd Park. But that's a dead issue, and I'll move on.

Byrd Park looked spectacular on a brilliant sunny day. I drove around its three large lakes and into the parking lot of the Maymont Nature Center. Well-kept mansions line the street bordering the west side of Swan and Shields Lakes, and handsome homes and apartments line Lakeview and Davis Avenues. And then there is charming Byrd Park Court.

Just off of The Boulevard on Broad are the Richmond Childens' Museum and the fabulous Science Museum of Virginia with its IMAX dome in and adjacent to the old Union railway station. These, along with the Va. Museum of Fine Arts, the Confederate ediface (the name of which I cannot recall), and the ever expanding Battle Abbey (Va. Historical Society) comprise the "Museum District" in the West End.

Coupe, I still want you to take a night-time picture of the beautiful and colorful fountain in Boat Lake at Byrd Park!

Edited September 6, 2005 by burt

[wrldcoupe4]

great description!

haha burt I'll see what I can do. IMO, my camera skills are still primitive. Once it becomes more of a mastery... I'll venture into the great unknown: night pictures!

by the way... it's the Daughter's of The Confederacy...