This Town Is Testing Me

Another building is being "refurbished" near me, and yeah, I'm scared. How could I not be?


814 W. Broad Street

Also known as the Richmond Glass Factory since the 1950s, this is what it has looked like ever since I've been in Richmond. Lovely, wasn't it? Not. For some reason a lot of Richmond buildings were covered in this type of aluminum siding. I'm now curious about the "real" look of a lot of buildings in this town.

I can't remember when or where, but some time ago I saw a picture of what this building looked liked years ago and it was gorgeous. I'm sure I saw the picture at work but I haven't been able to track it down since. Which is bad because someone working on the new construction in that area came into work to see pictures of what this block looked like decades ago and we had none. Our pictures were from surveys taken after all of this "urban revitalization" crap was done to the facade. I gave them some organizations to get in touch with, the Virginia Historical Society, the Library of Virginia, the Historic Richmond Foundation. I SO hope they contacted them because it didn't seem that they had an architectural historian working on the project at all.

I forget to show you what the building looked like before. Here you go:

In 1952

And in 1907.

Believe it or not it was actually a electric rail station, the Richmond and Chesapeake Bay Railway station, in fact. See that great staircase through the door, all gone. And that Italian Renaissance/Beaux Arts architecture has all been hidden under stucco panels and aluminum siding for more than twenty years.

The building is part of the 2004 Broad Street Commercial Historic District's Boundary Increase on the National Register of Historic Places. More information about the building (and the district) can be found on the nomination form.

Flickr user F33 is on the case and photographing the changes being made to this building. We can watch the progress (fingers crossed) here.

Images: VA Department of Historic Resources, "Rails in Richmond" via deadlouisville's Flickrstream

Is Richmond Renting To Clowns Now?

Then (1982)
109 East Grace Street

In Architecture in Downtown Richmond I found an old picture of the latest building, 109 East Grace Street, in my neighborhood to get a makeover. This building's makeover; going on just around the corner, is not a favorite of mine. In fact, I'm pretty upset about it. Checking the archives I was also able to see what it looked like in 1996.

Then (1996)

Yes, very non-descript. In fact, when they started working on it, I couldn't even remember what it looked like. I could remember the Great Graphic poster shop and Perly's diner, but not the building between them. Now I can see why.

Here are some recent photos I took to show what it looks like now:

Now! (2009)

Yeah, it seems like circus clowns are apparently moving into my neighborhood! (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) But this place now has two shades of blue, black, white, gray, orange, and yellow paint on it! A few weeks ago, when they started, this was all in white and looked quite lovely with the sculpted arch medallions, the two curved windows, and the glass blocks. In fact, the bottom half still looks nice. However, when more paint arrived they did this:

?!

Oh, how I hope this is just a gimmick so that the building gets noticed. Because.... believe it or not, these places are available to lease from Thalhimer but I still can't find it on their site? Yes, this is what they did to it before getting a tenant! Do they need to watch some Discovery Channel or HGTV shows and get some tips on making a property enticing or what?

Images: Black & White from VDHR, color images by myself

Richmond Makeovers - A Time-Honored Practice

Sometimes, even after almost two years, I find books at work that I've never seen before. Most of the time, I suspect it's because a co-worker has taken the book to their desk and never officially "checked" it out. Bad employees, bad!

Well, here are two great resources for historic pictures of my neighborhood; Architecture in Downtown Richmond by Robert P. Winthrop and the oversize gem, Broad Street Old and Historic District: Richmond, Virginia, both were compiled and published by the Historic Richmond Foundation and are out of print.

The magic of the oversize one is that is has panoramic shots of city blocks as they looked in the 1920s and then again in photographs from 1986. The most amazing thing about that is that you get to see wonderfully ornate (Edwardian Baroque?) building facades that were covered up in later years with "modern" facades in order to look contemporary. These are now the buildings most in danger because people think they are boring and plain. If only they knew?! Oh, to do an updated version of this book today!

Example: 13-17 East Broad Street, the Charles Stores, Co.

Original

As Remodeled

Demolished

The building went from Victorian brick to Art Deco stucco to...a parking lot.

Images property of the Valentine Museum Collection

Romeo and Juliet on Park Avenue

While dog walking for a friend a week ago, I came across an interesting combination of porches and balconies. I had never seen a first story balcony and this one is quite unusual because of its fortress-like design. It immediately reminded me of Romeo and Juliet. I was hoping to find some more information on the building's design but could not.



This 1914 building, known as The Beauvoir, is located at 601 North Davis in the Historic Fan District and is part of the Monument Avenue Historic District. It is an old apartment building that has been made into condominiums* Almost all of the old apartments that friends and I lived in when in college are now condominiums.

I'm not sure what the original apartment sizes were but a recent condo for sale is listed at 1,720 square feet. Let's say that this is a combination of three 570 square feet one-bedroom apartments that might rent for $750 a month each. This condo; which remember is one of many and not a stand-alone home, is priced at $329,000 ($200 per square foot). I'm sorry but for that amount of money I don't want any neighbors upstairs or downstairs. I also would want a yard.

Love the variety of window types/styles on this one wall.


Say hi to my buddy Angie!

* Well, I guess it's the best way to make more money while still offering the same old product.

Images: CVRMLS real estate listing photo, all others taken by me.

Knocked it out of the park...

Country Living's new issue that is!

Yes, I'm still liking this magazine. And to do my part in keeping it around I again bought a copy at full newsstand price*.

Check out that cover! If that bedroom is "country" living, count me in. I love the regional neighborhood feel of the whole magazine. This is not fast and furious, disposable living that they're writing about. This is small town life, something I would love to embrace in my real life. I currently live in a small town that for some reason wants to run with the big dogs but has no idea how to do it. They keep making big pronouncements and throwing insane amounts of money into the air without taking care of the infrastructure or making concrete plans for the cash.

Oh well...I can still dream while I sit back with a cool drink and read my latest copy of Country Living and my special treat issue of Lucky.

One of the many DIY projects in this month's issue uses a book I had when I was a kid, How To Tell Time, from Golden Books. It already had spinnable clock hands on the cover; therefore, it was a perfect choice to make into a real clock with a store bought clock kit. I wonder if this is one of the books I still have at my Dad's house?

*Now that I know those advertisers don't give a fig about "cheap" subscribers I'll try to do this as much as I can.

Things that make you say...

What!?

"On November 25, 2008, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Louisiana State University announced the selection of the Mid-City neighborhood for the site of their new hospitals. The new hospitals would needlessly destroy the historic neighborhood around Charity Hospital, where residents have been rebuilding and restoring their community since Hurricane Katrina."

"the plans for new construction call for the demolition of some 200 homes and buildings constructed prior to 1880 in 25 blocks of an adjacent National Register Historic District, despite the existence of a largely vacant site nearby."


What were they possibly thinking?

This is not a completely devastated neighborhood. This is one trying very hard to get back on its feet.

Please check out the Save Mid-City page on the National Trust For Historic Preservation's website for more information and links to how you can help. Thank you.