John and Ross(jointly) cracked Style Magazine’s Power List, maybe not the top, but hey, your on the list. Woo Hoo!

An article in Buttermilk and Molasses and InRich.com announced the transfer of ownership to Betsy Thomas, formerly of Betsy’s Coffeehouse in Careytown. No significant changes are planned at this time. I’m pulling for them to open nights and Saturdays. If the John Marshall and some other announced developments actually get on track there could be plenty of business. The Capitol Ale House and Cafe Rustica have shown that this people will come to this stretch of Main Street after 5:00 PM.

From the Press Release
-
MONDAY, JULY 21, 2008
5th FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM
CITY HALL
900 E. BROAD STREET

The City of Richmond Planning Commission will discuss further revisions to and consider adoption of the June 2008 Draft Downtown Master Plan on Monday, July 21, 2008. The meeting is open to the public, but there will not be a public hearing. The discussion on the Downtown Master Plan will be held at the end of the regular meeting agenda and will begin no earlier than 6:00pm. The meeting will be held in the fifth floor conference room of City Hall (900 East Broad Street).

Please visit the Downtown Master Plan web page (http://www.richmondgov.com/departments/communityDev/DownTownMasterPlan.aspx) to view the June 2008 draft plan and to view other information, including: achievements in the 1997 Downtown Plan, meeting minutes from public hearings, and information on other events that have occurred as part of the planning process.

A copy of the revised draft plan is also available for review at the following locations:

Libraries

For more information contact Brooke Hardin, City of Richmond
Telephone: (804) 646-6310 E-mail: Brooke.Hardin@richmondgov.com

From the Richmond Greens website

Richmonders to rally outside Richmond Times-Dispatch Richmond, VA – On Saturday, July 26, at 1 p.m., Richmond-area residents will gather outside the offices of the Richmond Times-Dispatch at 300 E. Franklin St. to demonstrate their opposition to …

One ticket per enrolled student available on campus at the Breakpoint Games Room and the Hunton Student Learning Center.

Richmond Kickers Tickets
Richmond Braves Tickets
Jim Gaffigan Where: Landmark Theatre When: July 18, 8 p.m
Harvey Where: Landmark Theatre When: August 2, 8 p.m

Contact:
Ms. Devin T Peyton
828-6500
peytondt@vcu.edu

I tripped across the registration form to the National Register of Historic Places for Monroe Ward Historic District. Here’s an except starting on Section 7, Page 1. I hope to snag some of the photos that came with this app or take some myself. The analysis and description go on for 7 more pages.

A copy of the original document is attached.

Summary Description

Monroe Ward is an historic, mixed-use, urban neighborhood in the city of Richmond, Virginia. Its architectural fabric presents a variety of periods, styles, building types and uses that illustrate the evolution of the city from 1814, when the Federal style Curtis Carter House (later known as the Crozet House, NRHP and VLR, Photo 7) was built, to the late 1940s when commercial and business uses began to dominate the historic district. Monroe Ward inhabits a sector that has long played a role in the life of the city: in the first half of the 19″ century as a neighborhood of scattered dwellings and cottages, from the 1870s through the turn of the century as an elegant residential quarter, then beginning in the second quarter of the twentieth century as a commercial district. The neighborhood is regaining popularity for ofice and residential use as the century draws to its close.

The architectural inventory of Monroe Ward covers nearly two centuries of building types and styles. Dominated by Greek Revival and Italianate townhouses (Photo 1) later converted to commercial use, the district still exhibits the scale of its late nineteenth-century heyday. Generally two or three stories tall, three bays wide and set back from the sidewalk with a narrow yard, a number of these masonry dwellings survive intact. The historic district is enhanced by herringbone-patterned brick sidewalks and street trees. The floor plan organization is predominantly the side hall-parlor type with a rear ell. A majority of the historic building facades are laid UD in common-bond dressed brick. In some cases. like the James W. Archer House at 12 South 3″ Street (Photo 4), cast- and wrought-iron fences, porches, and roof cresting survive. More often, however, shallow storefronts were added within the setback area in the early years of the twentieth century, as this once prime residential real estate gradually increased its popularity as a commercial area. Reflecting a trend which began in the late1 930s and continues in recent decades, other residences were remodeled in a Georgian Revival style (Photo 2). The most exceptional example of these historic renovations is 105 East Cary Street, “Snug Harbor,” (Photos 2 and 3) the home and office of landscape architect Charles Gillette.

A new business has landed on Main St behind the Richmond Public Library. Row House Soaps specializes in all natural herbal soaps made on the site. The owners, Michael and Sharon Walsh had been making soaps in their Arizona home for years before moving to Richmond and hitting the festival circuit. In response to the many requests from their customers they opened their storefront last month.

Besides making soaps they have scavenged architectural scraps from the back alleys of Richmond and turned them into tables, mirrors and candle holders.

Row House Soaps
121 E Main Street
Richmond, Va 23219

naturalsoap804@comcast.net

Open Tuesday - Friday 10:30 am to 6:00 pm

Susan Greenbaum drew a nice crowd for today’s concert in Library Park. This is just a sample of how downtown ought to be everyday.

Ellwood Thompson and RVA Magazine are hosting a bike ride starting in Monroe Park at 8 pm on Friday, August 1st to benefit Books on Wheels.

UR, in collaboration wit VCU plans to establish a satellite campus at 7th & Broad. The 4500 sq ft facility will be housed at the former Franklin Federal Savings and Loan. Students will be involved in talking credit courses and and providing legal, psychological and other services to people in need.

via InRich.com