What's Your Vision for Richmond?

[Cadeho]

I thought you were posting the Varina-Enon Bridge.

I think they can at least line the MLK bridge with some nice blue lights that run the length of the bridge.

Some other ideas were floated around RCW.

[Cadeho]

Burt, here's that map I was working on of my neighborhood, Woodville.

The light blue shading are the boundaries of the neighborhood. The darker blue are areas that can be redeveloped. I recreated the grid that existed prior to 1957. I put in a new shape for the new Woodville School. I want to leave the open space between the Peter Paul development to the south and west just that. It's a nice field and at one time they put down gravel to create a track. That would be nice to do again and I named it Fairfield Park. This is part of the land on which the Fairfield Race Course existed and was later owned by Peter Paul. I created a new community center for the north part of Woodville to replace the old Fairfield Court one. I also left some more open space alone and called it Woodville Park.

Ugh the text is too small... if it's a problem let me know.

Here's the original that I had pieced together (not seamlessly) from Richmond and Henrico's sites.

[burt]

Wow! You must have spent hours on this. It's a bit difficult for a stranger to grasp "what was" and "what is" and "what should be".

Isn't the JFK school somewhere in the area? It's impossible for me to read the street and building names.

And tell more about the Peter Paul Race Track.

[Cadeho]

I'd need to research the Fairfield Racetrack. I am not sure when it came into existence but it is shown on the 1867 Mitchie ultra detailed map of Richmond as well as other maps before and after. A man named Peter Paul bought the land the track was on and in the 1930s, it was subdivided into a development named after him and Peter Paul Blvd curves reminiscent of the track. Also V St originally turned and ran into PP Blvd creating another turn. But now 26th St was broght through to meet up with the bend of V and Peter Paul.

What I should do is make them pdf files so you can enlarge. And yes JFK. now New Armstrong is in the area and not one of the schools scheduled to close. However, Fairfield and Woodville are.

[Cadeho]

Ellen Robertson? is envisioning something in the old Manchester Post Office, an office for development and a community room. Others want it to be a police sub station (and it looks like one). I guess that could be incorporated too. But Hull Street is screaming for attention. Now I don't envision it as another overrated Carytown, but that woudn't hurt. Maybe they can have the major shopping district with DEPARTMENT STORES.

[wrldcoupe4]

Cam you might be on to something with department stores in Manchester.... I wonder if there is room for it without losing some great architecture along Hull? Definitely worth a look at.

[burt]

If Mayor Wilder's plan for closure of certain schools and construction of replacements goes through, I have a plan for the old Bellevue School atop Church Hill on Grace at about 23rd Street.

That site was Church Hill's grandest Ante Bellum estates known as the Van Lew House, and was the home of Elizabeth van Lew, the notorious Yankee spy. In the early 20th Century the city leaders' pent up emotions finally vented, and they voted to have the house demolished as a lessen to them damn Yankees. They weren't gonna tolerate no monuments to no traitors, 'specially a WOMAN! So they tore down the handsomest house in Richmond with its elegant verandahs overlooking the James.

Maybe, if indeed Bellevue School is vacated, the Van Lew Mansion should be reconstructed on the site.

I'll bet Cam can find a picture of the old place to post here.

[Cadeho]

http://www.curlesneck.com/richmondpics/Els...201900-1920.jpg

http://www.curlesneck.com/richmondpics/Els...ansion%2001.jpg

[burt]

http://www.curlesneck.com/richmondpics/Els...201900-1920.jpg

http://www.curlesneck.com/richmondpics/Els...ansion%2001.jpg

Thank you, Cam, for posting the two pictures showing the Grace Street frontage and the columned portico overlooking the river.

Don't you think it should be rebuilt exactly as it was?

[BGW]

If Mayor Wilder's plan for closure of certain schools and construction of replacements goes through, I have a plan for the old Bellevue School atop Church Hill on Grace at about 23rd Street.

[...]

Maybe, if indeed Bellevue School is vacated, the Van Lew Mansion should be reconstructed on the site.

I suspect that the Bellevue building would be sold to developers for condos, a la Lee Elementary. Rumblings to that effect started in the neighborhood as soon as Wilder's "plan" came out.

[Cadeho]

Welcome Burt. I think that the house is gone to history like the Adams House to the east. The school itself is historic I believe (it's over 50 right?). Plus it was a grand replacement and I think condos would be the best bet for it.

[burt]

OK. If you guys don't want to honor a Yankee spy lady I guess I'll have to live with that.

I have heard that the Bellevue School has one of the best auditoriums and stages among elementary schools in the City. Perhaps the building could be converted into an artists' conclave and community center for the area.

[Cadeho]

I think there's a marker!

[burt]

I suspect that the Bellevue building would be sold to developers for condos, a la Lee Elementary. Rumblings to that effect started in the neighborhood as soon as Wilder's "plan" came out.

Last fall, when I visited Richmond Hill (the former Monte Maria Convent atop Church Hill), the charming priest and his wife who oversee the place said that they want Bellevue to remain a school - and especially hope that it is not converted to condos. They fear the increase in 24-hour traffic such a development would create.

I still think the van Lew mansion should be re-created on the site.

[j_c]

Last fall, when I visited Richmond Hill (the former Monte Maria Convent atop Church Hill), the charming priest and his wife who oversee the place said that they want Bellevue to remain a school - and especially hope that it is not converted to condos. They fear the increase in 24-hour traffic such a development would create.

I still think the van Lew mansion should be re-created on the site.

I'd like to see Bellevue converted to condos and workspace for RPS employees. It would be a great recruiting tool and reuse of the school. I believe this was discussed for another RPS school that was closed but is now being used to school displaced Battery Park students.

[burt]

jc, does RPS mean Richmond Service Personnel - like fire and police people?

Conversion of Bellevue School for housing of this segment sounds like a good idea. But I have a notion, judging from the Richmond Hill Director's comments, that area residents would rise up in protest.

I believe the school that was to be closed but now serves displaced Battery Park students is called Patrick Henry and is on Semmes Avenue near Forest Hill Park. Those kids on the northside have a long bus ride twice a day.

[wrldcoupe4]

**Richmond Public Schools**

[wrldcoupe4]

Some neat quotes from an article Burt showed me in USA Today that focused on Richmond. I think these are useful in thinking of a vision for Richmond:

"Cities that measure success by population growth have an outdated view of what success is all about," says Carol Coletta, head of CEOs for Cities, a non-profit alliance of mayors, executives and other urban leaders based in Chicago.

The city wants to grow, but it's not waiting for a population boom, says Greg Wingfield, president and CEO of Greater Richmond Partnership Inc., an economic development marketing group. "We don't as a region aspire to be the next Atlanta or the next Charlotte," he says. "It's about quality. It's not about growing for the sake of growing."

How does Richmond get people to live in the city? "You make things look better. You stop blight," Wilder says.

As older cities shrink, some reinvent themselves

Just food for thought...

[stolypin]

I would like to see Monument Ave developed into a true monument to great Virginians of many eras and disciplines. I propose monuments at the intersections with Malvern Ave, Westmoreland St, Staples Mill Rd, Willow Lawn Dr, Libbie Ave, Pepper Ave, Charles St, and at Allison St in between the Lee and Davis statues. The eight statues could be chosen from a list including, but not limited to, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Lewis & Clark, Cyrus McCormick, Booker T Washington, Woodrow Wilson, Walter Reed, Wila Cather, Richard Bryd (the explorer), Henry Clay, Pearl Bailey, the World War II generals with Virginia ties by family or schooling (Douglas MacArthur, George Marshall, George Patton, and Matthew Ridgeway, though only Ridgeway was actually from VA), Sam Snead, Patsy Cline, Ella Fitzgerald, Patrick Henry, Maggie Walker, Winfield Scott, James Monroe, Stephan F Austin & Sam Houston, George Mason, John Marshall, Edgar Allen Poe.

Any stautues build would obviously be subject to the usual PC BS but I would chose people for their historical significance to Va & the world: Jefferson, Madison, Lewis & Clark, Booker T Washington, a single monument to the WWII generals, a single monument to famous artists and entertainers including Fitzgerald & Cline, James Monroe, and Woodrow Wilson. With a Maggie Walker statue somewhere else nearby on its already discussed site.

At the end of Mounment, at Horsepen/Glenside, I would build a big traffic circle with a stautue of Pocahontas and the founders of Jamestown (Smith, Newport, Rolfe, etc.)

Maybe two or three statues on the Boulevard between Stonewall Jackson and the Columbus statue at the park would be nice also.

I'd also like to see a single monument park/statue to all the presidents from Virginia, like they have for the NC-born presidents in Raleigh.

[burt]

Nice to hear from you again Stolypin. I believe this is only your second post.

I like the locations you have suggested for Monument Avenue statues, and I think your list of potential subjects is excellent.

There are a number of Washington statues in the city, including the priceless Houdon masterpiece in the Capitol Rotunda. Busts of all eight Presidents occupy niches in the Capitol. And Thomas Jefferson is honored not only by the statue in the lobby but by the Jefferson Hotel as well. I'd be inclined to go with some of your other suggestions.

Some may scoff at the entertainers you've listed, but not I. Pearl Bailey persued humanitarian work after retiring from showbiz. Ella and Patsy are National treasures - each in her own musical milieu.

Seems to me Patrick Henry is under-represented in the city, though I believe his and Edgar Allan Poe's likenesses are in Capitol Square.

Cyrus McCormick, Booker-T Washington and Maggie Walker are great statuary candidates.

Let's keep this discussion alive.

[Cadeho]

Admiral Gravely, Rev. John Jasper, Kunta Kinte, Gabriel Prosser, Nat Turner... years from now, Wilder and yes, even Sa'ad El-Amin.

[rvawoody390]

I recently got back from Paris and I think there is something to be said for having sort of random statues throughout the city. There were statues just dispersed throughout and it was a pleasant addition to any street corner or block. I don't think we should exclude possible statue candidates just because they have one of that person at Capitol Square, because really isolating all of the statues in one location like the capitol detracts from the rest of the city.

Also in Paris right on the Seine there is a statue of Jefferson, but right here in the city he served as a Legislator we have no statue to honor him, I think it's a shame that the entire repatoire of the city's statues seems to be derived from the Civil War. We have great revolutionary and modern legacies that we have yet to tap into outside of Arthur Ashe.

[Cadeho]

"We don't as a region aspire to be the next Atlanta or the next Charlotte," he says. "It's about quality. It's not about growing for the sake of growing."

Oh I am glad someone recognizes that!

So has that been Wilder's plan and why my side of the city is rapidly disappearing? It's being turned into green space! After a while it's going to be vacant blocks like they did with Fulton.

[j_c]

I recently got back from Paris and I think there is something to be said for having sort of random statues throughout the city. There were statues just dispersed throughout and it was a pleasant addition to any street corner or block. I don't think we should exclude possible statue candidates just because they have one of that person at Capitol Square, because really isolating all of the statues in one location like the capitol detracts from the rest of the city.

Doesn't VCU have one of the top sculpture programs in the nation? You'd never know it by driving or walking around Richmond. We should have statues out the wazoo.

[burt]

rvawoody and jc, along the lines of your visions, perhaps the VCU Sculpture Department could create show business representations i.e., Fitzgerald, Bailey, Cline, Bill Robinson and others, on each corner of 6th and 7th on Broad. With reopening of the National and Carpenter Center, the art could designate Richmond's Theatre District.

Perhaps clusters or randomly placed statues of authors, sports figures, politicians, medical leaders as well as some of those suggested by Cadeho. And in a nod to Paris, a prominent placement of Lafayette.

Also, fountains!! Let's have plenty of FLOWING fountains.

And, to anchor the art gallery district, a stunning Museum of Modern Art extension of VMFA in collaboration with VCU at the southeast quadrant of Belvidere and Broad.