Carytown & Museum District News Events in Richmond Virginia, West of the Boulevard

From the Department of Public Utilities…

RICHMOND, VA—Beginning Friday, July 18, 2008 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) will be performing emergency sewer work in the 700 block of N. Boulevard. The project is expected to be complete by Wednesday, July 23, 2008.

During this time, the two northbound lanes of N. Boulevard will be closed between Monument Ave. and Grace St.

Traffic will be detoured east on Monument Ave and directed north on to Davis Ave. to W. Broad St

From Ellwood Thompson’s…

Dragon and Tiger Qigong - July 19, 1 PM. Come learn the Dragon and Tiger form, which boosts energy, increases flexibility and balance, and is good for heart and kidney issues.

Sample a delicious and potent antioxident blend from Nature’s Way on July 25, 4 - 7 PM. This 100% certified organic blend of goji, mangosteen, pomegranate and acai is not only a very potent antioxidant but tastes great as well!

Farmers’ Market - Every Wednesday, 3:30 - 7:30. Ellwood Thompson’s is the original Farmers’ Market, but they’re setting up outside each Wednesday with local farm favorites.

Introduction to Goat Cheese - July 30, 7:30 PM. Think all goat cheese tastes the same?

Speaking with Spokes: On August 1st, 2008, Ellwood Thompson’s Local Market and RVA Magazine team up to create Speaking with Spokes, the first organized, sponsored and safe group bike ride through the city. This ride will benefit Books on Wheels,

Ellwood Thompson’s is located at 4 N. Thompson St.

Amici has closed its doors until September 2 to remodel. The northern Italian eatery picked an interesting time to do this - right in the middle of the summer when their front patio is one of the most popular places to eat in Carytown.

Amici is located at 3343 W. Cary Street.

Infuzion Lounge is expanding it’s offering to lunch, opening its doors Tuesday-Friday. A jazz pianist will be on hand, as well as fare including salads, skewers, wraps, sandwiches, and desserts.

Infuzion is located at 1401 Roseneath Road.

A new website documenting the history and architecture of Devil’s Triangle hit the Internet recently. So far it has featured historic pictures and reviews of local businesses. It’s an interesting addition to our neighborhood’s web presence.

You may see a for lease sign popping up soon, but Heidi Story is not closing. It’s moving next to Moshi Moshi at 3319 W. Cary, and should be complete by August. The new store will feature more classes and more items for sale.

Chop Suey in Carytown has been slowly increasing its inventory of comic books and now has a complete section devoted to them. The store teamed up with Velocity comics, and features a wide variety of graphic novels.

The Valentine Richmond History Center is leading a walking tour through the Museum District this Saturday from 2-4 PM. It will meet at the Confederate Chapel behind the VMFA, and is $10.

Ruth & Ollie, the furniture and interior design store formerly at Libbie and Grove, picked up shop and moved to Carytown. They’re set to open this week.

From their website:

• We’ve leased part of the former “Martha’s Mixture” building located at 3445 West Cary in Carytown.
• We’ll have nearly 3,000 square feet of retail space. That’s over 4 times the space we have now and we’ll have 4 times the selection!
• We plan to expand our offerings with upholstered headboards, dining tables & chairs, desks and an even more sumptuous and fuller selection of sofas, chairs and tables, mirrors and lighting.

John over at CHPN.net passed along some interesting agenda items on tap at the 6pm council meeting tonight…

Ord. No. 2008-160 (Patron: President Pantele, By Request) - To authorize the special use of *** 3031 Norfolk Street for the purpose of converting the existing building for use as up to 90 multi-family dwelling units ***.

Ord. No. 2008-162 (Patron: President Pantele, By Request) - To authorize the special use of *** 1700 Summit Avenue for the purpose of converting the existing building for use as up to 89 multi-family dwelling units ***.

I’m no expert when it comes to zoning, council meetings, etc, but it seems like these proposals need a good review before getting Wilder & Pantele’s old rubber stamp.

The proposals are pretty similar, so I checked out the Summit property in more detail (Full PDF of the proposal here)…

• The Summit property is an old vehicle repair building and is zoned as M-1 Industrial. Most of the surrounding property is zoned Industrial as well. Plopping hundreds of people in an Industrial zone isn’t too appealing.
• They’re only constructing 89 parking spots. Call me crazy, but if you’re building 89 units with 149 bedrooms, you’re going to need more than 89 parking spots.
• The plans call for lots of really small apartments. Some of the 2 bedroom units are as small as 612 square feet. Do we really want a lot more tiny apartments in this city? I realize the market will sort all these types of things out, but some city planning could help.
• The owner is looking to cash in on a lot of Federal, State, and Local tax credits. Before doling these out, let’s double check that this is what we want to spend taxpayer money on.

Those are my thoughts. What about you?