Capitol Square Improvements

[wrldcoupe4]

There is a lot of construction going on around capitol square.

First off, lets start off with the Old State Library & Archives Building Renovation. It was built in 1939 At a cost of $32 million, the building will be like new. When renovation is complete this spring, it will house:

* Governor

[wrldcoupe4]

The Washington Building Renovation will begin in the fall of 2005 and finish December of 2006 at a cost of $15.8 million. The 123,000sf building was originally constructed in 1923 and housed the Virginia Dept. of Agriculture.

here's an image of the building:

[wrldcoupe4]

Her stairs are gone!!!!

I'll post more info on the Capitol project but here are some images of the construction so far:

I like the 'owner' in this one:

[wrldcoupe4]

here we go I'll put the finance biulding addition stuff here:

current finance building:

rendering of addition

The finance building, originally constructed in 1895, is undergoing a $26.3 million renovation. which will be complete by this summer. It will be used for:

* Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services

* Lieutenant Governor

* Compensation Board

[wrldcoupe4]

check out video of the Capitol Renovation!

(Real Player Required)

Virginia State Capitol Renovation

[VAGATOR]

It's amazing the State let all these building get into such a bad state. I remember when I was working as a page in the House of Delegates a decade ago being shocked how big of a dump the General Assembly building had become. Glad to see them fixing up the place.

[urbanvb]

check out video of the Capitol Renovation!

(Real Player Required)

Virginia State Capitol Renovation

Interesting... a great find!

[wrldcoupe4]

Richmond Renaissance Update

Lots of news from the state about Capitol Square Improvements... I couldn't catch all of it but here are some highlights:

The East and West buildings will begin a major renovation project soon.

The Richmond Hotel will be preserved no matter what.

Morson's Row and the State Supreme Court will undergo renovation soon.

Plans are in the works for Capitol Square East... some buildings will be torn down and new ones built on the eastern side of Capitol Square. It will open it up and allow for more greenspace on the grounds. Renderings showed a building next to the Monroe tower where its twin was never built. Some of those ugly soviet-style buildings will be torn down. Also, this was my favorite part! He mentioned that the state will reopen bank st to traffic, and it will/can be utilized by the city for future light rail.

Here's the biggest news though... after the Capitol's renovation is complete (it's on time and on budget by the way), the state will be seeking World Heritage Monument status for the building. An example of another World Heritage Monument building? ----the Taj Mahal

[burt]

Richmond Renaissance Update

Lots of news from the state about Capitol Square Improvements... I couldn't catch all of it but here are some highlights:

The East and West buildings will begin a major renovation project soon.

The Richmond Hotel will be preserved no matter what.

Morson's Row and the State Supreme Court will undergo renovation soon.

Plans are in the works for Capitol Square East... some buildings will be torn down and new ones built on the eastern side of Capitol Square. It will open it up and allow for more greenspace on the grounds. Renderings showed a building next to the Monroe tower where its twin was never built. Some of those ugly soviet-style buildings will be torn down. Also, this was my favorite part! He mentioned that the state will reopen bank st to traffic, and it will/can be utilized by the city for future light rail.

Here's the biggest news though... after the Capitol's renovation is complete (it's on time and on budget by the way), the state will be seeking World Heritage Monument status for the building. An example of another World Heritage Monument building? ----the Taj Mahal

Great! Just don't let Mr. Bush outsource the building to India.

[gosscj]

Light-rail in Richmond? I haven't heard anything about plans for that before... have I missed something big?

[wrldcoupe4]

The Richmond Regional Planning Commission has done several studies on Light and commuter rail in the Richmond region, though we are still several years away from it being necessary or having a chance of happening. Perhaps they meant to say streetcars, which is more likely in the short term, but the guy from the State did say specifically "light rail"

[gosscj]

Neat. I'm a little skeptical of light rail in cities of Richmond's size though. Norfolk may well be approved for LR this year but, as excited as I am to see mass transit coming to Hampton Roads, I'm worried it won't see many of the riders it projects. Then again, the people who are doing these studies know a lot more about it than I do and they seem to think it can work. I just hope it doesn't wind up an embarrassing waste of money and space.

[Cadeho]

Richmond Renaissance Update

Plans are in the works for Capitol Square East... some buildings will be torn down and new ones built on the eastern side of Capitol Square. It will open it up and allow for more greenspace on the grounds. Renderings showed a building next to the Monroe tower where its twin was never built. Some of those ugly soviet-style buildings will be torn down. Also, this was my favorite part! He mentioned that the state will reopen bank st to traffic, and it will/can be utilized by the city for future light rail.

I wouldn't sink any money in bets on that map they showed. Remember it was one of 3 or 4 plans they had and we really don't know if they've decided what to do. For sure though they want to do the Capital Square Parkway, basically running from Old 14th to Bank.

I am not in favor of closing Governor St. permanently as I am most sure it is one of the remnants of the old Westham/Three Chopt Rd. I will work on a map of that in a little while. I also don't want the Zincke (sp) building demolished... and believe it or not... those Soveit Buildings have grown on me. I'd still prefer if they should come down (I think the V-Dot building was left) that the partial circle still be the orientation of the buildings. They add some variation with the rest of the skyline and they echo the pattern used to be Council Chamber Hill.

Neat. I'm a little skeptical of light rail in cities of Richmond's size though. Norfolk may well be approved for LR this year but, as excited as I am to see mass transit coming to Hampton Roads, I'm worried it won't see many of the riders it projects. Then again, the people who are doing these studies know a lot more about it than I do and they seem to think it can work. I just hope it doesn't wind up an embarrassing waste of money and space.

Don't be skeptical... we're not that far behind Norfolk in size... and we originated it. It's only a matter of time before it returns home. Be skeptical about the willingness of independent Richmonder's giving up their cars.

[TBurban]

Does anybody have a picture of these Soviet Architecture buildings? Im not quite sure I know what you guys are talking about.

[Cadeho]

05/29/04

The Madison Building

The Jefferson Building

02/26/06

And V-Dot's building is part of this complex but it's not ugly... but may be included as it's part of the same plan.

And I'm just throwing in the addition to the Oliver Hill (former Finance Building) because it's the best example of new architecture to me. And the rendering in this thread looks real.

Pics taken 02/20/06 unless noted otherwise.

[TBurban]

Wow, Thanks Cadeho

So those are the buildings theyre tearing down, eh? I don't really mind them as they are now, but I think it's definately going to add to the city's skyline once theyre gone and new buildings go up. Definately something to look forward to.

[burt]

Two questions: In the rendering including the Monroe, did the new structure next to it seem as tall?

And, was there any discussion at all about repaving the city's streets? Many of them downtown and elsewhere were in deplorable condition last I looked.

OK , a 3rd question: Was there a rendering of the 20-story tower planned to replace Murphy's?

And a comment, Tommy. Almost all of the State buildings pictured above are described by some of us as "Soviet" architecture because of their utter blandness. They would easily fit into Moscow's unadorned streetscape during and post Stalin. They represent State penny-pinchings at the expense of Richmond's skyline. Also, The State does not pay one red cent to the City in the way of real estaste taxes, but almost everyone would agree that having the State Capital here is a worthwhile trade-off.

[TBurban]

Two questions: In the rendering including the Monroe, did the new structure next to it seem as tall?

I thought the parking garage was built where the second Monroe tower was supposed to go up. Theres more room over there?

[wrldcoupe4]

Actually, they built the foundation and everything for the second tower, but it was never built:

Bird's Eye View

You can see the footings that were never used in that view.

[TBurban]

Hmm, interesting. Thanks Coupe.

So the tower by the Monroe that they may build will be built there?

[Cadeho]

But thank God it was never built. They tried making twins here and with the Main Street Centre, we finally got our twins built with Riverfront Plaza. That's all we need. They may put another building there using the foundation, but I think they were more concerned with reopening a street from Broad to Main since Governor St. is closed to the public and creating more greenspace around those buildings. It's basically a big parkinglot. The map shown was old with no revisions from almost 2 years ago. I don't recall anything said about demolishing the buildings.

To answer Burt's questions:

There was no rendering. It was a map, one of the maps featured in the pdf that was shared on RCW about a year or so ago. I can't find the thread, but I don't think the link works anymore.

No word on downtown streets... and yikes! I hate 14th and Broad. Feels like I'm running into a wall with all those bumps. But then too... I am the one advocating we convert back to cobblestone and paving block streets where we can. I know you remember the paving block on Broad Burt, right?

No rendering of anything concerning the Murphy.

[Cadeho]

I found this link in an old thread. http://www.lrcllc.com/PDFs/Commonwealth%20Building.pdf I guess this is out of the picture these days.

http://dgs.state.va.us/State%20Employee%20Presentation.pdf

And I see someone here's been copying his screen for the pics...

[wrldcoupe4]

I wonder what they plan on replacing the Murphy with?

[Cadeho]

Morgan R

Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2005 9:24 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Master Plan is no longer accesible from the webstie. I wonder what that means for it's acceptance and use?

So it was a year ago. Looks like those plans may be being revised?

Nah, they moved the page. http://deb.dgs.virginia.gov/DEB/CapMstrPlan.asp But it's still a year old!

And this is what they showed at the meeting, or a variation of. The parkway was in the same spot, sparing both the Jefferson and Madison.

[burt]

But thank God it was never built. They tried making twins here and with the Main Street Centre, we finally got our twins built with Riverfront Plaza. That's all we need. They may put another building there using the foundation, but I think they were more concerned with reopening a street from Broad to Main since Governor St. is closed to the public and creating more greenspace around those buildings. It's basically a big parkinglot. The map shown was old with no revisions from almost 2 years ago. I don't recall anything said about demolishing the buildings.

To answer Burt's questions:

There was no rendering. It was a map, one of the maps featured in the pdf that was shared on RCW about a year or so ago. I can't find the thread, but I don't think the link works anymore.

No word on downtown streets... and yikes! I hate 14th and Broad. Feels like I'm running into a wall with all those bumps. But then too... I am the one advocating we convert back to cobblestone and paving block streets where we can. I know you remember the paving block on Broad Burt, right?

No rendering of anything concerning the Murphy.

Indeed I do remember them, cadeho.