Richmond in Pictures II

[burt]

Of course you know, Coupe and Eric, that I devoured every shot. Will be back later with numbered comments.

It's great to see that the City Hall Observation Deck is open again for picture taking.

I will return.

[burt]

Here are my comments for first batch of pictures:

#1. Kanawa Plaza - bounded by 7th, 9th, Canal and Byrd Streets. It has the city's second most beautiful fountain within its perimeter (the first, IMO, is the lighted fountain at Boat Lake in Byrd Park). The Plaza is the location of Friday night concerts in warm months, and apparently, is beloved by some of the city's homeless population, many of whom fail to pick up after themselves.

#2. Dominon Headquarters covers the block enclosed by 7th, 8th Cary and Canal streets. Its ground level is elevated above street level and resembles a fortress - an architectural design that unfortunately took hold in the 60s.

#3. The Crown Plaza Hotel has a razor sharp edge to it and duplex penthouses on it top floors. It is not a visual favorite of many Richmonders, but I find it rather interesting.

#4. The John Marshall. Work stopped recently, but I believe funding will be completed and reconstruction will go ahead toward residential condos soon.

#5. One, if not the only, rooftop electric sign remaining in the City. I think it is "grandfathered" and all but the word "HOTEL" will remain and be illuminated once more.

#6. Nice view of East Franklin Street from 7th toward Capitol Square. Note the poor shape of the street pavement which is a problem throughout much of downtown.

#7. The new 8-story Federal Courthouse, covering the block of 7th 8th Broad and Grace Streets, will rise as high as neighboring Murphy's Hotel which tops out at about 11 floors. It will have graceful curved facades along the side streets.

#8. The Blues Armory! What can be said about it other than it is the most neglected building of interest in the entire region? Nobody can convince me that a magnificent Symphony Hall could not be carved out of its interior. Bring in a world renowned music hall architect, and voila! Magic!

#9. Phillip Morris moves apace with its $300Million Research facility. I'm perplexed about the "empty" space at its s/w corner (5th and Leigh Streets).

#10, That's the State Forensics Lab in the background on 5th between Jackson and Leigh streets.

#11 & 12. These pictures finish up Wrldcoupe4's fine pano of the Phillip Morris site.

#13. I believe this was the first building in Virginia Biotech Park. It is n/e corner of 7th and Jackson and was later expanded considerably.

#14. VCU Medical's new School of Nursing rising on the north side of Leigh at about 11th street.

#15. This white-ish VCU Medical building would have been more appropriate a block east at 12th and Clay overlooking the White House of the Confederacy. Unfortunately, there's a rather ugly red brick structure now at 12th and Clay while this rather stylish building is next door on 11th at Clay.

#16. Glorious Wickham House with its interior magical curving staircase and stunning garden to the rear. It's at 11th and Clay in what is known as Court End.

#17. As Coupe pointed out, this Anchor in the garden of the Confederate White House is from a ship named The Virginia. But I believe its correct designation is CSS Virginia, not the USS Virginia.

#18 & 19. They say this is the footprint for the new VCU Medical Bed Hospital, but it looks very small to me for a tower of 15 or so floors.

#20. The Museum of The Confederacy on the grounds of the White House and almost absorbed into VCU Medical's surrounding towers.

#21. Excuse me for waxing personal, but the building before you at n/e corner of 12th and Clay was constructed in the 1930s to house The Medical Society of Virginia founded at another location by my grandfather Dr. Landon B. Edwards. He died long before my birth. The building also housed offices of The Virginia Medical Monthly edited until her death by my very dear aunt, Agnes V. Edwards. I spent many an hour in that building as a youth visiting with my aunt helping out with office chores.

That's all for now.

[wrldcoupe4]

Thanks Burt... and you're exactly right about the anchor.

Now, onto part III!

43.Lady Bird is coming along still... lookds like new windows have been installed!

44.From Brown's Island

45.Geese!

46.

These are 'post-eric' pictures ....

47.along Main between downtown and midtown

48.

49.

50.UPS guy!

51.

52.

53.

54.

55.

56. Renovation occurring...

57.New home construction/restoration along Cary St

58.

59. Gold's Gym in the Fan

Now onto Uptown!

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61.

62.

That's all for part III... more uptown coming soon! Enjoy

[urbanvb]

Awesome pics! And that last one is amazing.. like techno color houses!

[wrldcoupe4]

Ah well... I'll just get part 4 out of the way as well. Hope you guys liked these pics! The day was cold and kind of cloudy, so some of the pics seem "cold" IMO.

More Uptown on Main!

63. Note the new street signs for the Fan

64.

65. The building to the right is currently being renovated.. not sure what it will be ?

66.

67.

68.

69. The Lost Sock

70.

71.

72. Richmond.com

73.

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76.

77. Under renovation:

78.

79.

80.

81.

82. And last but not least...

I didn't get to do all of Uptown, but I got a good amount of it covered. Hope you liked it AND all the other pics... I look forward to seeing Eric's pics, which he should post soon...

[Downtowner]

Coupe I got to tell ya your one hell of a photographer. You would make an excellent one for local magazines or for even te developments on going in richmond. These pictures are really really awesome. I need to get out with my Digital Camera and take some myself.

[rusthebuss]

Great job Coupe. I need to get around like you do in Norfolk. Just don't have the time. I bet you spent all day taking those.

[burt]

Continuing - by the numbers:

#22. The area called Court End. This is the north side of Clay between 10th and 11th. Sheltering Arms Hospital used to occupy the large white building in this block. I believe that's it at extreme left in this foto.

#23 & 24. Wonderful 19th century house restored and maintained by VCU. It's at the n/w corner of 11th and Marshall. Note the great wrought iron work. Someone double check me, but I do believe the iron work was added in recent years.

#25 & 26. Old City Hall covering a block bounded by Broad/10th/11th/and Capital Streets (Capital street has been closed off and is now part of Capitol Square). My Dad, years ago, was The City Comptroller (now titled Director of Finanace) and his office was the first to the left of the Broad Street entrance on the ground level. If I was a good boy, he would let me visit occasionally and sit in his big leather chair.

#27. Thank goodness the New City Hall Observation Tower is once again open to photographers. Here you see the Capitol Building being renovated. Slightly down hill to the left is the cleaned-up old State Finance Building, and at the bottom, the old (and current) Federal Court House opposite what will be the new underground entrance to the Capitol from Bank Street.

#28. View north from the Ob Deck. But what is that construction? It's not PM, is it? Coupe will have to clarify this one.

#29. Great view of mid-City from O.D. There's the new Fed C.H. going up next to old Murphy's Hotel; The VAPAF site; Berry Burk; The John Marshall and Miller & Rhoads among other sights.

#30a & 30b. I don't see any difference in these two fotos. But they provide great views looking west along the Broad Street corridor. That's the Convention Center connected with crosswalks right of center.

#31. Nice midtown view enhanced by Coupe's photographical finesse. There's a great mixture of architectural styles. Notably, The Jefferson Hotel; The Landmark Theatre (formerly known as The Mosque); the dome of The Cathedral of The Sacred Heart; the spire of St. James Episcopal Church, and the high rise apartment towers along West Franklin Street. In the foreground is the grey-ish building once known as Lexington Tower which had a great restaurant on its top floor. It's directly across Franklin from the 5-star Jefferson Hotel, but for some unknown and tasteless reason, new owners changed it from Lexington Towers to Trolley Tower.

#32. Note downtown density.

#33. More of Capitol Square, State Offices and the Financial District. The tallest building is Sun Trust at 10th and Main. Beyond it is a glimpse of the River James.

#34. Everybody's favorite (haha), The Monroe Building, still the state's tallest. Foreground, Old City Hall and the newly named and reconfigured Patrick Henry Building whose tiered ugliness will be the temporary site in 2006 of the General Assembly. In the background you can see the navigable James with Rocketts Landing at and just beyond the bend.

#35. Some kind of blurry process shot of the Control Tower at RIC - presumably taken from City Hall Ob Deck.

#36. Another nice view looking east. Note the train shed of Main Street Station behind Monroe Tower. Almost all (or a lot) of buildings mid-screen beyond the train shed are warehouse residential conversions in Shockoe Bottom and Tobacco Row.

#37. I find the relatively new State Libary uninspiring. Another example of state penny-pinching. It covers the blocks of Broad/Marshall/8th and 9th.

#38. St. Paul's Episcopal, the church at 9th and Grace that figured in Civil War history. It once had a spire instead of the little dome now at its top.

#39. Coupe said it all - Georgie and his pals. I wish Grace Street were one-way east bound, or at least, 2-way so drivers could enjoy this beautiful Equestrian statue honoring our first President.

#40. Shockoe Slip is nicely maintained, but needs some high-end retail shops that will remain open until at least 10PM.

#41. The James River and Kanawa Canal turning basin at the foot of Virginia Street (13th, if it were numbered). The new Vistas on the James residential tower is under construction directly across the basin from this Point of View.

#42. Another view of the Turning Basin looking west. The stone bridge is Virginia Street and the hulking red brick building beyond is the almost ready-for-action TOAD'S PLACE RICHMOND.

This is as far as I can go today. More comments later.

[burt]

Whew! I only have 40 more comments to make. You're wearing me out, Coupe!

[wrldcoupe4]

burt... just finished taking 100 more!

Thanks Joey for the kind words... You should get out and take some pics! It's fun!

And Rus... thanks! I spent about 3 hours taking those.

I spent about 4 hours taking pics today...I'll upload them soon.

[burt]

burt... just finished taking 100 more!

Thanks Joey for the kind words... You should get out and take some pics! It's fun!

And Rus... thanks! I spent about 3 hours taking those.

I spent about 4 hours taking pics today...I'll upload them soon.

HELP!!! On top of the new one hundred, Eric will have a batch! What are you guys trying to do to me?!

[wrldcoupe4]

[urbanvb]

coupe, you must have 1000's of photographs eh?! lol

[wrldcoupe4]

haha... I hope to have some more this week while I'm in Georgetown... I'll post them in the DC/Balt. forum guy..

[burt]

haha... I hope to have some more this week while I'm in Georgetown... I'll post them in the DC/Balt. forum guy..

Well, THAT's a relief. At least, I won't have to comment on those.

[eandslee]

OK everyone...Now it's my turn! I don't have many photos because my memory card was almost full, but I got a personal tour of the Berry Burk by my long time friend Edwin Gaskin, part owner and project manager for the project. So, I'll start there:

Outside the Berry Burk:

Inside the Berry Burk - Each floor will have 9 loft apartments except for the 4 floor which will have fewer only because they will be larger and a bit more fancier:

The Federal Courthouse:

The PM project:

The Airport!!! I love the way it is looking...something to be very proud of:

And finally, here's a photo of Coupe and I...Coupe is on the left -

And that's all for me folks!!

[wrldcoupe4]

nice pics man! glad to see the airport and the inside of the Berry Burk...

Talk about a bad mug shot! I kind of look like a bum!

I'll be posting some from today soon...

[eandslee]

nice pics man! glad to see the airport and the inside of the Berry Burk...

Talk about a bad mug shot! I kind of look like a bum!

I'll be posting some from today soon...

Yeah, I look like I'm 50 pounds overweight! I don't think I've ever carried so much weight!! Augh!!!!! Ok, so that lady that took the photo wasn't all that great of a photographer!

It's sad being back in Montana, but I woke up to 3 inches on snow on the ground!!! (I don't know if you all would consider that really a good thing or a bad thing, but for me it was totally a bad thing)! Looking forward to more of your pics!

[Downtowner]

Yea that reminds me I took some shots of Philadelphia when I went I should upload those on the Philadelphia forums. I took some really awesome pictures of Comcast Center Phillys newest and tallest Skyscraper as well as Ceira Center.

[wrldcoupe4]

Okay guys... I'll start off with part 1 of 4... enjoy!

1.At Byrd Park

2.The Carillon, Virginia's WWI Monument

3.Little glare... but this star is to honor the "gold star mothers" of WWI

4.

5.

6. From the Carillon:

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9.Dogwood Dell

10. From the stage

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12.

13.Looking toward the Carillon neighbohood

14. Home nearby

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16.Children's Farm at Maymont Park (different from the Maymont Nature Center)

17.Looking out into the vastness of Maymont.. note the Dooley Mansion in the distance

18. More Maymont

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21. Homes overlooking swan lake

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Stay tuned for part II

[wrldcoupe4]

Part II

Byrd Park Neighborhood:

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27.

28.

29. Fountain Lake

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31.

**Now we jump over to around Monroe Park**

32. VCU School of Engineering

33.

Park Place almost finished!

34.The beautiful Cathedral of the Sacred Heart from Monroe Park

Midtown highrises around Monroe Park

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A few of Franklin St

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Cathedral again..

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48.Landmark Theater

Part III and IV will come later tonight... hope you guys enjoy!

[wrldcoupe4]

Part III from today:

49. From belvidere... skyline in rear, VCU's expansion in foreground

50.More highrise towers from midtown

Now onto Great Shiplock Park... where the eastern Canal has been drained! Is this a sign of impending Canal Walk expansion?

51. Notice the drained canal...

52.soon to be "Lucky Strike Powerplant"

53. Rest of Lucky Strike.. under conversion into apts./condos

54. Looking back at Tobacco Row

55.

56. Looking east...Rockett's Landing Phase I is in the distance

57.

Fulton Gas Works.. newly proposed site of new stadium for the Richmond braves

58.

59.

60. The nicely done Poehlig Brothers Box Factory readapted as apartments

The rest are from Richmond's Historic Church Hill neighborhood

61.

62. Bellevue School

63.The sun got the best of some of these, but I'll post them nonetheless

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Looking out from Church Hill

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70.

St. John's Church... Liberty or Death anyone?

71.

72.

73. Here lies the Mother of Edgar Allan Poe, Elizabeth

Part 4 coming soon! Hope you guys enjoy

[urbanvb]

Amazing pics Coupe.. Richmond has tons of great looking older homes with awesome architecture.. simply amazing.

[wrldcoupe4]

Part IV... the final section. This should be enough pictures to tide yall over till I return from Georgetown

Still in Church Hill at St. John's Church

74.Looking out at Church Hill from near her gravesite

75.This guy was buried here in 1751!

76.And in parting from St. John's

77.Buddy Gadams' Nolde (pronounced Noldee) Bakery adaptive reuse

More Church Hill (note the real gas streetlamps)

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At libby Hill Park...

84.

85.

86. check out the bird!

87. Soldiers and Sailors Monument

oh the views...

88. west

89. east

90. south

91. another fountain

92. Cool plaque I noticed

93. Fulton gas works again... Rockett's in the distance

94.

95.

96.

97. at Patrick Henry Park

Wellllll...that's all I've got. Enjoy and I'll be back around Friday!

[burt]

#43. Great shot of TOADS PLACE RICHMOND. Those balcony supports look a bit spindly to me, and it would be nice if a little wrought iron were added.

Skip to #47 thru #54. Pictures of houses and stores on East Main between 1st and Foushee and along North 1st between Main and Franklin. Post World War II, this was the "Antinque Shop" region - from 2nd to Foushee on Main and on the side streets. Excellent work has been done on converting many of these old buildings to residential in the past 3 years.

#53. The historic Turpin House at n/e corner of 1st and Main.

#55. The Ellen Glassgow House at s/w corner of Main and Foushee. She was a Pulitzer Prize winning author who lived and died in this house. Incidentally, it is my belief that a project to be called Foushee Mews will wrap around the s/w corner of Main and Foushee, directly across Foushee from Glassgow House.

#57 & #58. Coupe will have to clarify where this project is on West Cary Street. My guess would be the north side of Cary near Lombardy.

#60 to #64. The Uptown District brought into prominence by Ed Eck a couple of decades ago. The district is vastly enlarged from its colorful beginnings and is becoming a viable retail zone.

#65. This old bank was, for a while in the 70s, a swinging gay disco. It later morphed into an advertising agency. I don't know what its future holds, but a return to an alternate life style entertainment center might brighten up this diverse area.

#66 - #70. More Uptown.

#71. The Main Street portion of the wall that encircles the Condos known as The Warsaw. The full City block - Main on the south, Harvey Street on the east and Floyd on the north (can't remember name of western street) used to be the site of the Catholic Sisters of Charity nunnery. It has some very interesting and unique living spaces in it now.

#72 thru #82. More of colorful and interesting Uptown. It has some interesting shops, galleries and delicious restaurants mingled amid its multi-block stretch of West Main Street.