$10 MM for Pump House Park?
The RTD has an article about little old Pump House Park, sharing that an event there last week drew 600 people, and plans are in the works to open it up on weekends to guests and boatrides. The James River Park system is considering it for a visitor center, for which they would pour $10 million into the facility.
The 4-acre park is beautiful, but they should work on cleaning it up before they move forward with grand plans. The many times I’ve been there, I’ve been amazed at the number of sketchy people milling about.
No kidding! the first time i saw it when i was new to town i was amazed that no one ever told me that it was there or that there was a park around it with all kinds of history. then i saw a guy dressed for office work coming out of the woods at 11:45 on a weekday. kinda put things in perspective.
There’s tons of sketchy people downtown, but millions keep getting pumped into that area. Expect more sketchy people as the economy crashes. We may all be sketchy soon.
Seriously though, while I like the Pump House Park idea, I hope it does not distract from other more high-use park areas that need investment and attention. Oregon Hill is still waiting on a new canal bridge, withshould already be paid for with the grants already raised by the neighborhood association.
The Pump House Park could be a great showplace for renewable energy. Solar is possible on the building’s roof. Environmentally-friendly, micro-hydro-electric could come from the canal, serving as an educational tool as well as a functional part of the building’s energy supply.
It is definitely a beautiful, historic building that more people should see and use.
“i saw a guy dressed for office work coming out of the woods at 11:45 on a weekday”
Maybe he was gathering mushrooms for a nice stir-fry.
This is indeed most excellent news, and a potential happy ending for an often arduous journey.
Parks Director Pope said it was a “three to five-year plan” and considering the budget-straitened times we’re going through, I wonder when actual work can get underway. City Council giveth and taketh, or just doesn’t doeth. Look how a Carytown streetscape improvements study, commissioned in 2000, lay ignored until just recently.
Back then, $1.6 million was called for, and $300,000 per year for five years supposed to be in the budget, but it wasn’t until 2003 that $150,000 was appropriated — and that for the ripping out of the Bartlett pears. Currently, though, those plans have been dusted off and some real improvements could be seen in latter part of 2009 — if Council doesn’t axe street paving and brick pedestrian cross walk installation from the budget.
As for the Pump House, not enough credit can be given to the scores of volunteers who through the years have helped stabilize the structure, led tours of the Pump House building and kept the plight of the place in public consciousness. These were folks with Friends of James River Parks and the Virginia Canals and Navigation Society, among others.
Here, here! Thanks, Harry, for reminding us of the bazillion volunteer hours (give or take) that have kept this fantastic structure from slipping into the canal. Cheers to the loyal and nameless that have done their part! Hopefully it will serve as motivation to others to pitch in as the project moves along.
I love the idea of investing in that park. It really is a hidden jewel, and if more people went there, the sketchy people would disappear.
I love the sign that says something like “George Washington ate a sandwich here”.
I LOVE that building, and I like the idea of it being an environmental showcase. But then it wouldn’t be ‘one of Richmond’s best kept secrets’ anymore. Oh well, I’d share it with the lucky few that venture down there. It’s such a wonderful, peaceful place.
Thank you for bringing this up.