RVANews

Broad Street Station

FTRea — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:11:24 +0000

The color-tinted postcard above is from VCU’s Rarely Seen Richmond Collection, which includes over 600 scans of old postcards. Click here to visit VCU’s postcard collection.

The first train pulled out of Broad Street Station at 1:07 p.m. on January 6, 1919. Designed by John Russell Pope, what was originally known as New Union Station was constructed on the site of what had been the Hermitage Country Club. A partnership of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad and the Atlantic Coastline built the station to satisfy the growing city’s needs.

Directly across the street the William Byrd Hotel, at 2501 West Broad Street, opened in 1925. The twelve story hotel catered to travelers heading north and south. At the other end of the block the Capitol Theater opened for business a couple of years later. It was the first movie theater in Richmond to be equipped for sound.

Boasting a first class train station and the neighboring new businesses, the area soon became a cosmopolitan and fashionable part of town. Perhaps it was a peak of a certain way of urban life — residents of the Fan District lived within easy walking distance of direct access to the entire East Coast.

The William Byrd’s barber shop open in 1927. Legendary barber Willie Carlton began looking out of the barber shop’s windows at Davis Avenue in 1948. He bought the business in the 1950s.

Recalling that for many years automobiles parked on the 800 block of Davis at a 45 degree angle facing the barber shop, Carlton chuckled as he described a visit by singer/songwriter Hank Williams, who was asleep in a convertible when it was time to open the barber shop.

“Well, he was taking a little nap, out there in his Cadillac,” Carlton recalled in a tone that signaled he could still see the picture being described.

Apparently, after the hard-living country music great finished sleeping off his road weariness, he got out of his snazzy ride and came inside for his haircut.

Carlton said the price of a haircut in those days was 60 cents. Lunch in the hotel’s busy dining room cost about the same.

During the station’s peak use, the years of World War II, an average of 57 trains passed through Broad Street Station on a daily basis.

The ensuing decades’ rapid outward growth from the inner city combined with the withering of America’s passenger rail system, to change the character of the neighborhood.

In 1975 Broad Street Station was no longer the hub of metropolitan life it had been; the last passenger train left the station at 4:58 a.m., on November 15 of that year.

In 1977 the distinctive building’s second life as the Science Museum began.

– Words and photo by F.T. Rea

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Gary Gerloff dead

FTRea — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:04:47 +0000

Gary Gerloff performing on Monument Avenue, Easter 2006

Via blog posts and Facebook friends who are musicians comes news that Gary Gerloff died on Saturday.

Gary was a well-known vocalist/guitarist in the region. Worked with many well-respected musicians during his long career as a troubadour. And, he was a friend.

Last saw Gary at a VCU basketball game; he didn’t miss many of them. Now my thoughts are with his brother, Bill, the rest of their family and the legions of friends and fans Gary made along the way.

To visit Gary’s web site click here. When I have more information I’ll add it to this post.

Update: Funeral information is as follows:

Visitation will be held Wednesday from 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. at St. Edwards Catholic Church at 10701 Huguenot Road. A mass will be held the same evening at 7 p.m. at St. Edwards. Following the mass, there will be a reception at Positive Vibe Café, located in Stratford Hills shopping center.

– Photo by F.T. Rea

Sunlight into bonds ownership

FTRea — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:38:09 +0000

At Save Richmond, there’s a post that reacts to an article about shortfalls and City-backed bonds in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch. The story of the Broad Street Community Development Authority’s inability to live up to expectations stands as fair warning to those wondering about whether Richmond ought to back bonds to build a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom.

So I think this provides the appropriate context in which to view the proposed stadium. And for the record, I am a huge baseball fan and would love to see something like this built downtown. I would also like to be 2 inches taller, 10 lbs lighter and offer the citizenry free ice cream on Fridays in the summer. Maybe once it gets built we could even work out a publicly-funded “Free Lapdance Night” with Sam Moore across the street at Club Velvet. Now that is a proposal I could get behind. But, I digress.

Save Richmond wants to know who owns the BSCDA bonds. Sounds like a good question to ask, since the City just had to pony up $655,000 to the owners of the bonds to cover a shortfall in revenue.

Click here to read “Who Owns the CDA Bonds?”

At Maymont

FTRea — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:38:03 +0000

July is jumpin’ at Maymont! Don’t miss your chance to name our bald eagle, explore American Girl Samantha’s World, and discover who’s awake on a family night hike. Visit our media room for more information on all the great programs showcasing Maymont’s History, Habitats and Horticulture this July.

Name the Bald Eagle
Help choose a name for Maymont’s female bald eagle. Read more…

Samantha’s World
Step back in time and discover the activities that American Girl Samantha and her friends would have enjoyed. Read more…

Who’s Awake? A Family Night Hike
Head over to Maymont and meet some of the Nature Center’s nighttime residents. Read more…

Maymont was the 100-acre country estate of Major James Henry and Sallie May Dooley. The Dooleys completed their opulent mansion in 1893 and spent the next three decades creating the gardens, landscapes and outbuildings you see today. Maymont now serves as 100-acres of history, habitats and horticulture. Since 1975, Maymont has been maintained and operated by the private nonprofit Maymont Foundation. Maymont’s indoor exhibits are open Tuesday-Sunday from 12-5pm. For additional information on hours and fees, call 804-358-7166 or visit www.maymont.org. Maymont’s Visitor Center entrance is located at 2201 Shields Lake Drive in Richmond .

– The information above was provided by Carla Murray at Maymont

Mr. Baseball’s bull…

FTRea — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:18:43 +0000

Over the course of the last six months, since the push to build a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom came back into the picture, I have criticized the concept roundly. And, I have suggested that some of the supporters of the Shockoe Bottom Center that Highwood Properties has proposed don’t know much about baseball.

But most of the people that suggestion has been aimed at are folks I’ve never met. With the way the Internet works, with anonymous players in the mix, there’s no telling if some of them have seen a thousand games, or none.

Bryan Bostic has been the most visible of the pitchmen selling the Baseball in the Bottom concept. First with Richmond Baseball Initiative and now as the man leading the group calling itself Richmond Baseball Club, Bostic has been consistent in his insistence that he is a baseball guy and that the game will thrive if it moves to Shockoe Bottom.

Bostic has trotted out his passion for baseball at nearly every opportunity.Yet, at the Albert Hill Middle School presentation on Apr.22, he had a telling moment that didn’t do much to support his contention that he is a bona fide baseball expert.

Standing before his seated audience in the school’s auditorium, Bostic was in the midst of describing the inadequacies of The Diamond when he spoke of relief pitchers warming up. Bostic said the pitchers had to warm up in a place that was almost in the parking lot, or words to that effect.

The problem was the pitchman couldn’t remember/didn’t know the name of that place. Every baseball park has such an area, for relief pitchers to throw practice pitches to a catcher, although it’s proximity to the field of play differs with each facility.

Although nearly any Little Leaguer could tell you that area is always called the “bullpen,” no matter what city the baseball game is being played in, Bostic searched for the word. It was funny, and it drew some chuckles, when someone supplied the missing word for Bostic, in a slightly sarcastic tone — “bullpen!”

Bostic went on, trying to act as if his revealing faux pas meant nothing. Or, perhaps Bostic believed it meant nothing. Either way, after hearing his pitch in person twice, it looks to me as if Mr. Baseball might need to hand the ball over to a relief pitchman.

Referendum is the answer

FTRea — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:44:19 +0000

The Richmond Times-Dispatch’s Public Square program on Tuesday night was on where to play professional baseball in Richmond. Today, what was said at that forum still has tongues wagging. Proponents of the Highwoods Properties/Richmond Baseball Club plan to build a baseball stadium said that their opposition was made up of mostly old people who are ill-informed … even selfish.

Wow!

To read more about it go here, here and for background — here.

Professional baseball isn’t being played in Richmond this summer. Those who follow local news to do with baseball know that a Double A team, currently situated in Connecticut, is heading here next year.

Surely, that’s good news to Little Leaguers in the metro area.

The last time Richmonders didn’t have a local team to pull for was 1965. That was the year between the Richmond Virginians’ departure for Toledo and the arrival of the Richmond Braves. In 1966, the R-Braves took what had been the Atlanta Crackers’ slot in the International League, because the Milwaukee Braves relocated to Atlanta.

This time around the process of putting a minor league team on the field has been more complicated than it was in 1966. Over the last decade a number of proposals have surfaced that would have moved professional baseball to other parts of town, even to the suburbs.

In 2009 the matter seems to have boiled down to two distinct options in different parts of town:

Refurbish The Diamond/or build a stadium in the same part of town
Build a new stadium in Shockoe Bottom

Yet, after watching the Braves leave town, at least somewhat out of frustration with Richmond’s squirrelly moves, our City Council is still struggling with what to do. Mayor Dwight Jones doesn’t want to be wrong, either. Where to play baseball has become a political issue of such magnitude that it’s time for something to break the spell.

Well, at the Fan District Hub, we have a solution — it’s called democracy.

Although it’s not easy in Virginia, it is possible to have the voters weigh in where elected officials fear to tread.

It took studies and a campaign and eventually a citywide referendum, in 2003, to get rid of the old weak-mayor system in Richmond. Now voters in Richmond elect their mayor directly. Put plainly, Richmonders opted for pure democracy, without modifiers, when they got the chance.

Once the General Assembly saw the eye-popping results, which overwhelmingly called for the change, Richmond’s City Charter was amended. Mayor Jones, who once opposed that same change, now seems OK with it, too.

It says here, the question of where to play baseball should be put before the voters in much the same way. A non-binding resolution could be placed on the ballot in November.

Obviously, prudent Virginians don’t want a string of frivolous ballot issues to clutter up every election. But sometimes the only way to settle something is to let the people decide.

City Registrar Kirk Showalter tells me there’s not much real extra expense to the taxpayers to run such a referendum, when there‘s already an election taking place.

In my view, the voters of Richmond will turn out in droves to put the kibosh on the plan to build in Shockoe Bottom. But maybe I’m wrong. Either way, putting it on the ballot will provide political cover for Jones and other elected officials.

Maybe it should be a three-way choice: The Bottom; The Boulevard; Who cares? Baseball is unimportant!

Hey, some of the people who are opposed to the baseball stadium being built in Shockoe Bottom don’t understand every angle of the financing. That’s true. But calling them “dolts,” or “selfish,” or “ill-informed,” as some boosters for the Highwoods position have been wont to do, isn’t helping Kreckman, et al.

To be skeptical about the projections of the would-be developers isn’t the same thing as being against young people, or being backward, as was suggested by some of the pro-stadium-in-the-Bottom .

The politicians at the forum saw voters. And, way more than half of those voters were not buying what Kreckman and Bostic were selling. Politicians can do math.

This Public Square forum may well be remembered as the tipping point — the night the worst idea for developing Shockoe Bottom began to shivel like a wicked witch doused with a bucket of water.

A referendum will put and end to all the talk about a Shockoe Bottom baseball stadium.

Stadium pitchmen unconvincing

FTRea — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:29:29 +0000

On Tuesday, like 200-or-so others, I went down to the Richmond Times-Dispatch to attend the Public Square forum. I was impressed with how smoothly the two hours of back and forth went. “Debating the resolution: Shockoe Bottom is the best place for a new ballpark” was the forum’s topic.

Now a piece I penned on how the debate went, “Baseball Talk: Pitching Panned,” is up at Richmond.com.

As they did at the Apr. 22 presentation at Albert Hill Middle School, both Kreckman and Bostic grew somewhat impatient with those attendees who opposed their plans for the Boulevard and Shockoe Bottom.
However, it’s difficult to find the wisdom in blaming poor salesmanship on the people who won’t buy your pitch. Isn’t that something like a politician saying to the voters — vote for me, unless you’re too boneheaded stupid to see I’m the best candidate?

Click here to read the entire piece.

CenterStage needs sunlight

FTRea — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:41:31 +0000

With CenterStage set to open in September there are still lots of questions about how it will operate and why. Unfortunately, answers are sometimes in short supply. It’s no easy task even finding out who owns what.

For the second installment I’ve written on the tortured relationship between the City of Richmond and the entertainment industry at Richmond.com, “The Dark Side of CenterStage,” click here.

To read the first installment, “The Show Mustn’t Go On,” click here.

At The Diamond: VCU 7, ODU 6

FTRea — Sun, 10 May 2009 02:25:13 +0000

Anybody who had any question about the future of the Virginia Commonwealth University baseball program had answers revealed to them on Saturday afternoon at The Diamond.

Freshmen Seth Cutler-Voltz and Brent Mikionis played huge roles in a exciting 7-6 Rams victory over the Monarchs of Old Dominion in Colonial Athletic Association action.

“It’s nice to get back in the win column,” Head Coach Paul Keyes said. “I’m pleased with the way our young guys came in and gave us some real life off the bench, but we’ve still got a ways to go. We have to continue to practice hard and continue to improve.”

It was a rough start for the Black & Gold when Max Most sent a line drive home run over the right field wall on the fifth pitch of the game from junior Robbie Andrews. A VCU miscue would plate another Monarch run later in the inning as ODU jumped out to a 2-0 advantage.

The Monarch lead would increase to 4-0 when Jake McAloose collected an RBI groundout and Brett Harris delivered a two-out RBI single to right field in the top of the third.

Junior Doug Otto sparked the VCU offense in the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff single and moved to second on a balk. Two groundouts later, Otto came around to score and cut into the ODU lead at 4-1.

The tandem of Most and Gerard Hall proved to be the Rams’ nemesis once again in the top of the fifth when Most singled and advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt. Hall followed with an RBI single through the right side and yet another VCU miscue would allow Hall to touch home later in the inning to push the ODU advantage to 6-1.

Insert the youth movement.

Junior Andrew Dimino smoked a single to start the home half of the sixth and came around to score after Chris Buss misplayed a ground ball by M.L. Morgan. Otto kept the inning going with a single of his own and sophomore Michael Cheatham brought the Rams within three with an RBI single into centerfield.

Freshman Josh Alford came off the bench with a clutch RBI double down the third base line and senior Carlos Rodriguez capped off the four-run frame with a sacrifice fly to right to bring the Black & Gold within one at 6-5.

Cutler-Voltz came out of the bullpen in the top of the fifth and cruised into the eighth, allowing just three base runners to reach over that span.

That set the stage for Mikionis, who proceeded to launch a 3-2 pitch deep over the left field wall for his first collegiate home run and tied the game at 6-6. Alford kept the rally going with a single into right field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Rodriguez.

ODU head coach Jerry Meyers brought out the southpaw Kyle Hald to face junior Matt Leskiw but Keyes countered with freshman Taylor Perkins.

A wild pitch moved Alford to third and Perkins did what Keyes asked him to with a sacrifice fly into right field to score Alford and give the Rams a 7-6 lead.

“We felt like Taylor was our best match-up in that situation,” Keyes said. “Last week at Georgia State, they brought [Robinson] Polanco out of the pen, who’s a tough lefty and we struggled. We figured Taylor had the ability to drive the ball and give us the lead, which he did.”

Like it’s been all year, the victory did not come easy when Hall drew a leadoff walk, McAloose reached on a throwing error and Josh Wright dropped down a bunt single to load the bases with no outs.

Mikionis made a fantastic play on a roller down the third base line for a fielder’s choice for the first out and redshirt sophomore Aaron Morgan got Cameron Scott swinging for the second out. Buss would put a swing on a 2-1 pitch from Morgan, but it was right at Dimino in center for the third out and a 7-6 VCU win.

Morgan (4-2) picked up the victory in relief, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings and allowing just one hit. Cutler-Voltz was stellar in his 3.2 innings of work, allowing just two hits while striking out one ODU hitter.

“I thought Seth was really the key for us,” Keyes said. “He came out and gave us four strong innings, which allowed our younger guys to get our offense going a little bit. Aaron did what he typically does, give us a little bit of a scare, but he normally always gets the job done.”

Reliever Chris Boggs (5-1) was dealt his first loss after giving up one run in 0.1 innings of work.

Four of VCU’s nine hits on the day came off the bench with Alford going 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI. Otto led the offensive attack, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored on the afternoon.

With four games left on the CAA slate, the Rams still have a chance at postseason play, but would need several situations to on fold over the next two weeks for that to happen:

George Mason would have to sweep James Madison, either Towson or Northeastern has to sweep the series against each other and VCU would have to sweep Delaware next week.

For the time being, the Rams will have to focus on the series finale against Old Dominion which is slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

– The information above was provided by Scott Day at VCU.

Toledo shaved points in 2006 against VCU?

FTRea — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:54:44 +0000

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the point-shaving scandal at the University of Toledo may involve a 2006 game played in the Virgin Islands in which the Rockets opponent was VCU. In this game played on Nov. 20, 2006, the Rockets defeated the Rams 60-59.

The [Toledo] players are accused of taking part in the alleged scheme by either affecting the outcomes of games, recruiting teammates to participate or by giving the two businessmen information so that they could place wagers on the games.

Click here to read the entire article.

Sexual battery reported on Meadow St.

FTRea — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:38:32 +0000

Fri., May 9: A sexual battery assault committed by an unknown male was reported by a female at 2:18 a.m. in the 200 block of North Meadow Street.

– The information above was provided by the RPD

Smart signs another guard

FTRea — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:27:09 +0000

VCU’s new basketball coach, Shaka Smart, has signed his second recruit; again it’s a shooting guard from a Virginia high school.

New Virginia Commonwealth University basketball coach Shaka Smart picked up a commitment yesterday from highly recruited all-Group AAA guard Troy Daniels out of William Fleming High in Roanoke. Daniels, a 6-4 shooting guard, averaged 17 points and 6 rebounds for the state runner-up Colonels. He was the Northwest Region player of the year and the Roanoke Times player of the year.

Click here to read the entire RT-D blog post.

Smart has one scholarship remaining and, going into the next season, the Rams still don’t have a pure point guard.

Pranks for the memories

FTRea — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:44:58 +0000

Biograph Times is a web site where I’ve stored some stories I’ve written, “Pranks for the memories.” This group covers some happenings between 1972 and 1984. Most of the events were set in the Biograph Theatre, or are connected to that long-lost movie house. Here’s an excerpt from “The Devils & the Details”:

The plot was hatched in early January 1974. It was after-hours in the Biograph’s office, next to the projection booth on the second story. Having finished the box-office paperwork, your narrator was browsing through a stack of newly acquired 16mm film catalogues, and probably enjoying a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon. The scent of recently-burned marijuana may have been in the air. A particular entry — “The Devil and Miss Jones” — jumped off the page. Instantly, it was obvious that the title for that 1941 RKO light comedy had been the inspiration for the X-rated movie’s title. It should be noted that the public had yet to be subjected to the endless puns and referential lowbrowisms the skinflick industry would later use for titles. This was still in what might be called the seminal days of the adult picture business.

Click here to read that story and several more.

There is a gallery of old Biograph programs and handbills there, too. This is a work in progress — more stories are on the way, so check back from time to time.

Strawberry St. Festival

FTRea — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:23:07 +0000

The Strawberry Street Festival has a smorgasbord of events and activities set take place on Sat., May 9, between noon and 4:30 p.m. at William F. Fox Elementary School and in Strawberry St. It will be an afternoon of exhibits, raffles, performances, flea markets, sales and much more that will interest and entertain the whole family.

To see the entertainment lineup for the 30th annual festival put on by the Fox PTA to benefit the school click here.

To visit the Fox School web site click here.

May 9, 1970

FTRea — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:32:17 +0000

The entire White House grounds and Lafayette Park were surrounded by DeeCee transit system buses, parked snugly end-to-end. Cops in radical-looking riot gear were stationed inside the bus-wall perimeter every few yards. As the gathering Baby Boomers were funneled into the designated demonstration area — the grassy ellipse south of the White House — the temperature had already reached the upper 90s before noon that blue-skied Saturday.

On May 9, 1970, the hot still air heightened the mounting sense that anything could happen.

Why not? The previous Monday four students had been shot to death on Kent state’s campus during a Vietnam War protest rally. Three days later two more students were killed at Jackson State.

Unlike the other large anti-war demonstrations, which were planned for months, this time it all happened spontaneously. Those on-campus killings moved many who had never marched in protest or support of anything before to drop what they were doing and set out for Washington, D.C. to live in the moment.

For some of us old enough to remember it, the mayhem on Virginia Tech’s campus a year ago brought to mind the shocking events of this week, 38 years ago. It served to remind us that college campuses are customarily thought to be sanctuaries, supposedly removed from the ugliest realities of modern life.

At the war protest in DeeCee some of the more experienced hands had come out prepared with provisions for a long day. Even more had not. Estimates ranged widely but most reports characterized the size of the crowd at well over 100,000. Home-made signs were everywhere, including occasional pro-war placards that denounced the protesters. The smell of pot burning gave the gathering a Rock ‘n’ Roll festive feel, too, as a series of speakers took turns ranting over the massive sound system of Woodstock proportions.

Behind the podium a black man was lashed Christ-like to a huge cross, perhaps to dramatize to the largely white crowd who was doing most of the dying in Vietnam. As a convoy of military vehicles suddenly drove into the area the crowd booed.

When it turned out the troops were bringing in water for the thirsty the booing stopped. Dehydration was a problem.

After the last speaker the police stood by watching thousands of chanting citizens, most of them under 25 — filled with righteous indignation — spill out of the park to stretch a line of humanity around the wall of buses. No effort was made to prevent the mob from marching into the streets which had already been blocked off. The march flowed north, then west, from one block to the next. Long lenses peered down from the roofs of those distinctive squat DeeCee buildings downtown.

Untold numbers of fully-outfitted soldiers were crammed into basements, visible in the doorways, awaiting further orders. Until that day’s bizarre uncertainty most of them had probably been glad to be anywhere other than Vietnam. A cheer went up from the marchers when a determined kid managed to get on top of a bus to wave a Viet Cong flag.

The cops quickly hauled the flag-waver off but a commotion ensued and the scent of tear gas spiced the air. Hippies who had been wading in a fountain to cool off scaled a statue to get a better look, as I snapped pictures with my new 35mm single lens reflex.

The next day I was back in Richmond for yet another gathering of my generation. Staged in Monroe Park, Cool-Aid Sunday featured live music and various information booths and displays were set up, aimed at helping young people with their troubles. They included the Fan Free Clinic, Jewish Family Services, Rubicon (a dry-out clinic for drug-users), the local Registrar’s office, Planned Parenthood, Crossroads Coffeehouse, etc.

Although it was not a political rally the crowd assembled in Monroe Park, while smaller, was similar in character to the one in Washington. No one was seriously injured at Saturday’s tense anti-war demonstration. Then, ironically, a 17-year-old boy — Wilmer Curtis Donivan Jr. — was killed on Sunday in the park in Richmond when a four-tiered cast iron fountain he had scaled suddenly toppled.

It seems I took no pictures on Sunday, the 10th, but the photograph of Donivan falling to his death that ran on the front page of the Richmond Times-Dispatch on the Monday that followed is one I’ll never forget.

No doubt, the momentum from the extraordinary week which preceded that fateful Sunday in Monroe Park was in the air as Donivan opted to climb that old fountain, not unlike other hippies in DeeCee the day before.

It set the scene.

In 1970 the USA was becoming ever more bitterly divided over the Vietnam War. Living in the moment was killing off the young and unlucky wherever they were.

– words and photo (1970) by F.T. Rea

Street closings due to public utilities work

FTRea — Sat, 02 May 2009 03:30:46 +0000

From the City’s public utilities blog:

May 4-5, the Department of Public Utilities will begin work on water main cleaning and relining in the Fan District. Crews will begin on Harvey [sic] Street and proceed west.

Click here to read the entire post.

Historic Richmond tours

FTRea — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:50:11 +0000

From The Valentine Museum:

Historic Richmond Tours in May:

May 2 — NEW! Director’s Tour: Hull Street Walking Tour

May 3 – From Iron Fronts to the High Rise Walking Tour

May 4 – City Center Walks (Weekly, Monday through Saturday, through September)

May 9 – African-American Cemeteries Bus Tour (Reservations required.)

May 9 – Church Hill on a Segway (Reservations required.)

May 10 – Hollywood Cemetery Walking Tour

May 16 – History Hounds Explore Ginter Park (Reservations required.)

May 16 – Forest Hill Evening Walking Tour

May 17 – Monument Avenue Walking Tour

May 24 – Shockoe Bottom Walking Tour

May 25 –Historic Cemeteries Bus Tour (Reservations required. FREE for all veterans!)

May 31 – Carytown and the Byrd Theatre Walking Tour

Times and Reservations: (804) 649-0711 ext. 301. View the complete 2009 Historic Richmond Tour season.

Development eyed at Meadow & Cary

FTRea — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:03:46 +0000

Richmond BizSense reports that a plan to raze and replace the notorious BP gasoline station at Meadow and Cary Sts. has surfaced.

A mid-rise building for residential and retail use has been proposed for the northeast corner of Cary and Meadow streets in the Fan. A BP service station and coin laundry currently operate at the site, but West Cary Street Planning Committee chairman Ed Eck has produced a plan to build a three to five story residential complex with street level retail space on the site.
“Right now the committee’s number one priority is to develop the corner where the service station is,” Eck said.

Click here to read the entire article.

Art Around the Clock

FTRea — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:31:58 +0000

The Visual Arts Center of Richmond revels in the art of every day with ART:24, a decidedly un-stuffy celebration of hands, community, crafts, food and laughter that begins with a Friday-night party and ends with a Saturday-evening cakewalk.

Special guest Natalie Chanin, international design star and sustainable fashion guru, will offer two workshops. This 24-hour whirl of fun, funky, fabulous activities that celebrate the art of everyday with workshops, silent auctions, process displays, pottery sale and an array of “green” craft vendors.

“For centuries our ancestors created beautiful and delicious things as part of daily life,” noted Jo Kennedy, the Center’s president and CEO. “ART:24 skips the busy, store-bought approach we’ve come to know and revisits tradition and sustainable living in the 21st century.”

Kennedy noted that the Center is excited to bring celebrated designer Natalie Chanin to Richmond. In addition to a trunk show and book sale featuring her clothing and project kits and her book, Alabama Studio Style, available for purchase throughout the course of ART:24, Chanin offers a three-hour afternoon workshop on May 15 for $75. A full-day studio workshop (including all materials and a catered lunch) for $450 takes place May 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Participants must pre-register by calling the Center at 353-0094.

Chanin first appeared in national media such as Women’s Wear Daily and Vogue with her Project Alabama couture line, which drew on the use of disappearing Depression-era stitching techniques from her native Alabama to turn old T-shirts into gorgeous garments. She still creates couture pieces, but has re-imagined her company as Alabama Chanin, with a renewed emphasis on sustainability and green and ethical practices as a way to recapture and share traditional ways of creating beauty from everyday things. She has added ready-to-wear clothing, books, housewares and kits to her line, and shares her techniques around the country in her extremely popular workshops.

ART:24 kicks off at 8 PM Friday with a party featuring live music by Fight the Big Bull and the High Street Lowlifes, cash bar, light snacks, a 24-item silent auction and displays highlighting collaborative wearable art and beautiful handmade pieces. The party runs until 11 p.m. and tickets are $24 for the public and $8 for students with a valid ID. Overnight, art-making will continue through kinetic drawing stations involving wind and gravity. These finished pieces will be used in workshops the following day.

Saturday’s festivities begin at 9 a.m. with a breakfast, free for Friday’s ticket holders and $3 for the rest of the public. An assortment of light-hearted, hands-on workshops are then offered throughout Saturday, including opportunities to embellish T-shirts and repurpose paper. These workshops cost $10 each per person. Kids can attend a young person’s workshop for free.

Handmade beads created in the Center’s ceramics studio will be available for purchase, as will a variety of other finished clay items; prices range from $5 to $25. And a dozen independent craft artisans whose work features recycled and repurposed materials will offer their wares as part of ART:24, including several members of the Richmond Craft Mafia.

ART:24 comes to a close on Saturday evening with a traditional cakewalk at 5 p.m. Buy a piece of cake to sample for $2 or try to win a cake for $10 by participating in the cakewalk. A cake-decorating demonstration augments the competition for baked goods. Throughout ART:24, custom-designed T-shirts printed with the event logo will be sold, many of them made from recycled shirts that have been donated.

Located at 1812 W. Main St. in Richmond’s Fan District, the Visual Arts Center of Richmond engages the community in the creative process through the visual arts. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

For more information click here.

– The information above was provided by Maggi Tinsley at the Visual Arts Center

Discount tickets at the Firehouse

FTRea — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:09:21 +0000

Holy Road Kill! “Trailer Park” is so hot it’s been extended an extra week!

Grab a last-minute escape to Armadillo Acres and save! Now through May 23, the Firehouse Theatre offers 15 “rush” tickets at the trailer-worthy price of only $15 to The Great American Trailer Park Musical!

Q. Why are they called rush tickets?

A. Because there are only 15 of them available per show, and in order to snag one, you have to haul butt over to the Firehouse and be first in line when the doors open at 7:30! At the Door only — night of show only — first come, first served!

Q. What is The Great American Trailer Park Musical?

A. See a sneak peak, including interviews with the cast and crew on Andrew Cothern’s “Mash Up” video review on Richmond.com, or
A. Read Mary Burruss’s StyleWeekly review, “Slumdog’s Million Heirs” here, or
A. Read Susan Haubenstock’s Richmond Times-Dispatch review, “Musical a Double-Wide Extravaganza” here.

For more orderly, organized individuals who prefer to plan in advance, read more about the show, the cast and crew, and purchase regular tickets for any night you like, right here.

The Firehouse Theatre Project, a non-profit theater company, was founded in 1993 to present important contemporary American theater pieces with an emphasis on plays not previously produced in the metropolitan Richmond area. The company, which is under the direction of Carol Piersol, Founding Artistic Director, is housed in the former Richmond Fire Station No. 10 at 1609 W. Broad St.

For more information about the Firehouse Theatre Project’s 2007/08 season, please call 804.355.2001 or click here.

– The information above was provided by Stacie Birchette at the Firehouse

Richmond Sports Backers win award

FTRea — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:49:18 +0000

The Metropolitan Richmond Sports Backers has again been recognized as the leader in its industry, receiving the National Association of Sports Commission’s (NASC) 2009 Member of the Year award. The NASC made the announcement yesterday during its annual Sport Event Symposium in Denver, CO, citing the organization’s accomplishment of generating over $61 million of economic impact for the Richmond region through an involvement in 38 events with over 353,000 total participants.

Click here to visit the Richmond Sports Backers’ web site.

– The information above was provided by Mike McCormick with the Sports Backers.

Kids fight poverty with bees

FTRea — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:34:08 +0000

Children in the After School Program operated by the City’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities held bake sales, collected pennies, threw pizza parties, held disco dances, sold Bit O’ Honey candy, hired themselves out for chores, and undertook a variety of other activities to raise $2,000 to purchase bees, bee hives and beekeeper training to help other children fight hunger and poverty.

The children in the program presented the check to a representative of Heifer International at a ceremony Tues., Apr. 28, at Clark Springs Elementary School. This unique gift will provide an income for approximately 67 struggling families through the sale of honey, beeswax and pollen. In addition, through pollination, the bees have the potential to double agricultural yields and transform the health and economy of an entire community.

Heifer International is a non-profit with the mission to end hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. Since 1944, the organization has helped millions of people around the world through training in livestock development and gifts that multiply.

The Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities provides recreation and leisure programs, parks, and facilities for the City of Richmond to enhance quality of life. Its After School Program was established by City Council to assist children in kindergarten through fifth grade with reading, academic, and self-improvement activities every day after school.

The program is provided at no charge at 21 sites throughout the City. Currently 879 children are enrolled.

– The information above was provided by Christy Everson, (804) 646-5944, with the City of Richmond

Name the reporter

FTRea — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:10:39 +0000

When Union Theological Seminary decided to divest itself of its FM radio station, WRFK, there was a groundswell of reaction from listeners who feared they would lose their favorite station and their hookup to NPR. It all worked out OK, but that wasn’t known when the demonstration pictured above took place at UTS in the late-1980s.

Who is the female journalist, wearing shorts, with the notepad under her arm?

Restaurants lowering prices

FTRea — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:50:59 +0000

From Richmond BizSense:

These days restaurants are using cheaper prices as a tool to take a bite out of the recession.
“It’s not just Friday’s, everybody’s doing it,” said Bill Vaughn, chief executive officer for the United Restaurant Group, which owns six T.G.I. Friday’s in the Richmond market and 32 along the East Coast. “Casual dining is working very, very hard to drive traffic.”
In addition to Subway and Friday’s, Chili’s has reduced prices, and Quiznos is now offering a $4 footlong.

Click here to read the entire article.

WRIR’s new Live Room

FTRea — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:33:46 +0000

Richmond independent radio station WRIR’s Broad Street studios now house a new “Live Room,” designed to host musicians, panel discussion groups, and other broadcast production opportunities.

In addition to direct live broadcast, Live Room events can be recorded for later broadcast or non-broadcast distribution via podcast or other media. Sight lines and remote audio controls allow Live Room event production from the Live Room itself or from WRIR’s broadcast studio.

“From the beginning, our mission was to create a Live Room that is flexible and will serve several WRIR committee groups with special emphasis on music bands, local public affairs programming, and in-house production” said WRIR Operations Director Julia McCauley. “The new Live Room is beautiful and the sound proofing improves quality for WRIR listeners. We’re really excited about the many new broadcast opportunities it will afford the WRIR audience and our volunteers.”

WRIR- 97.3 FM, Richmond Independent Radio, is owned by the non-profit Virginia Center for Public Press and operated by community volunteers. WRIR is dedicated to broadcasting locally produced music shows (including work by local musicians) and local and national news and talk programs.

– The information above was provided by Matt Zoller on behalf of WRIR (mattzoller@gmail.com).

Shockoe Bottom stadium questions stiff-armed

FTRea — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:40:08 +0000

The traveling show that has been selling the concept of building a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom stopped off at Hill Middle School last week. Richmond.com has a piece up that I wrote about the event.

Tougher questions were asked. A man brought up Bostic’s history with Richmond Baseball Initiative, the group that effectively put the kibosh on the plan to renovate The Diamond, with its push for a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom five years ago. Bostic bristled. He labeled the question, “unfair!” Then he blustered about The Diamond’s $18.5 million renovation plan. He cracked that the figure would have turned out to be “$30 million.”

Click here to read the entire piece.

The handbill’s day in court

FTRea — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:48:53 +0000

Gerald Donato and his wife Joan Gaustad in Shockoe Bottom

Originally from Chicago, artist Jerry Donato taught painting and printmaking at VCU for 36 years. Throughout the 1980s he was a regular at the Happy Hour gatherings in the Power Corner of the much-missed Texas-Wisconsin Border Cafe (1982-97). That’s the time in which we got to be friends and he helped me with a special project.

In a local courtroom almost 27 years ago I had a perfect view of a thoroughly entertaining scene in which the age-old question — what is art? — was hashed out in front of a patient judge, who seemed to enjoy the parade of exhibits and witnesses that was put before him. The defendant was this story’s teller. At the time I was the manager of the Biograph Theatre.

The courtroom was packed with art students wearing paint-speckled dungarees, gypsy musicians with hangovers and film buffs living in a movie.

When I got charged with a misdemeanor for posting a handbill I had designed to promote a midnight show, it was a bust I had deliberately provoked. My scheme was to beat the City of Richmond with a freedom of speech defense, and overturn what I saw as its anti-show biz handbill laws.

The City had launched a campaign to put an end to handbill-posting on utility poles that year, so I was trying to fight off what I saw as an attempt to stifle the arts- and music-driven culture I knew best.

At the trial’s crucial moment Donato was on the witness stand. He had taken the stand as an art expert and was being grilled over just where to draw the line between what should be, and what should not be, considered as genuine art. The Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney asked the witness if the piece of paper in his hand — the offending handbill for a low-budget documentary called, “Atomic Cafe” — could actually be “art.”

“Probably,” shrugged the professor. “Why not?”

The stubborn prosecutor grumbled, reasserting that the flyer could be no more than “litter,” no matter how the witness tried to avoid admitting it. Meanwhile, my attorneys continued to stand on the notion that I had a right to post the handbill, good art or bad, and that the public had a right to see it, either way.

Eventually, having grown weary of the high-brow, artsy vernacular being slung around by the witnesses supporting the defense — we also presented a display of about 100 different handbills, mostly for bands playing at clubs — the frustrated prosecutor tried one more time to trip up the clever witness.

As Warhol’s soup cans had just been mentioned, the lawyer narrowed his eyes to ask Donato, “If you were in an alley and happened upon a pile of debris spilled out from a tipped-over trashcan, could that be art, too?”

“Well,” said Donato, pausing Jack Benny-like for effect, “that would depend on who tipped the can over.”

Donato’s line went over like Gangbusters; the courtroom erupted into laughter. The obviously amused judge fought off a smile. The prosecutor threw up his hands and sat down. The City of Richmond lost its case that day.

Although I got a kick out of Donato’s crack, too, I’ve always thought The City’s mouthpiece missed an opportunity to hit the ball back across the net.

“Sir, let me get this right,” he might have said, “are you saying the difference between art and randomly-strewn garbage is simply a matter of whose hand touched it; that the actual appearance of the objects, taken as a whole, is not the true test? Furthermore, are you telling us that without credentials, such as yours, one is ill-equipped to determine the difference between the contents of a trashcan and fine art?”

Hmm…

Still, the prosecutor’s premise/strategy that an expert witness could be compelled to rise up to brand a handbill for a movie, a green piece of paper with black ink on it, as “un-art” was absurd. So, the wily artist probably would have one-upped the buttoned-down lawyer, no matter what.

Perhaps the question shouldn’t ever be crafted to determine how the hell to tell fake art from real art? After all, any town is full of bad art, and good art, and all shades of in-between art. Name your poison.

Rather, it’s probably better to ask — what is worthwhile or useful art? Then you become the expert witness.

– 30 –

–Words and photo by F.T. Rea

Signer to open office on Robinson

FTRea — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:38:46 +0000

The grand opening of Michael Signer’s office in Richmond at 10 N. Robinson St. will take place on Mon., May 4. From 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. drinks and refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.

Signer, a Democrat from Arlington, is on the ballot for his party’s primary on June 9, to determine its statewide ticket. Signer, a former Mark Warner aide, is running for Lt. Governor. Click here to visit his campaign’s web site.

– The information above was provided by Donny Draper with the campaign.

Robbery on Parkwood; Assault on Monument

FTRea — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:48:52 +0000

From the Richmond Police Department are two crimes reports from the Fan and nearby:

Robbery: Apr. 25, at 12:40 a.m., in the 3000 block of Parkwood Avenue, a male reported he was assaulted and robbed by two unknown males with a gun.

Assault: Apr. 25, at 11:46 p.m., in the 1600 block of Monument Ave., a male reported he was assaulted (stabbed) by an unknown male.

Michael Rao, VCU’s new president

FTRea — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 05:37:55 +0000

Writing for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Karin Kapsidelis profiles the incoming president of VCU, Michael Rao.

Rao, whose father was from India, and his wife, Monica, who grew up there, represent a minority in a community that is very much of the majority. Mount Pleasant is known as a classic college town, but of its 26,200 residents, 89 percent are white.
Michigan “is a very segregated state, in my opinion,” Rao bluntly told a group of community leaders recently as he asked them for a “communitywide standard for embracing diversity.”

Click here to read the entire piece.