Fan of the Fan

This has been covered elsewhere and isn’t technically the Fan (but it’s close):

Free cone day today at Ben and Jerry’s in Carytown from 12-8 PM. Expect long lines as long as the weather holds.

West Avenue–one of the nicer, if not most humble, areas of the Fan–is hosting its annual Garden Tour this Sunday.

The garden tour is West Avenue’s premier event of the year. The tour includes homes on West Avenue as well as
the alley bordering homes on Park Avenue and Franklin Streets. Children’s Activities Start at Noon. Gardens are Open from 1PM to 5PM

Just a reminder that tomorrow night (Tuesday, April 21st) a representative will share on VCU’s Master Plan for expansion around the Fan.

The presentation will be held this Tuesday evening, April 21, 2009, in the Binford School Auditorium at 7:00 pm. Brian Ohlinger will be highlighting the VCU expansion accomplishments that have occurred since the implementation of the 2004 VCU 2020 Master Plan. He will also cover efforts that are designated ‘Areas of Future Consideration’ under the 2020 Master Plan, including the former Ukrop?s property at Harrison and Grace.

We noticed that Melissa Savenko recently posted a round up of some upcoming Fan events. Check it out if you’re looking to find something to do these next few weekends.

We particularly commend swinging by the Binford Bash this Saturday (April 25th) from 11 AM-6PM at 1701 Floyd Ave. It’s an Arts festival that will feature local artists and performances by Binford students and benefit the Fan’s Middle School.
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Okay, so we’ve fallen a bit behind with some of these updates, but. . . Last Wednesday night (April 15th) there were 6 reported thefts from cars in the Fan. In each case GPS systems left in plain sight were stolen after windows were broken to gain access. This serves as an unfortunate reminder to put all valuables out of sight.

As an undergraduate history major, I’m a sucker for stuff like this–the 3rd Annual Spring History Symposium sponsored by the Alexandrian Society and the VCU History Department. It takes place all-day on Thursday, April 23rd, and is titled, “Social Relations during Slavery in the Atlantic World.”

Some additional info from Kathleen Murphy, part of the History Department at VCU and a member of the Fan Woman’s Club:

The event will be held in the VCU Student Commons Theater at 907 Floyd Avenue from 9am-5pm; it is free and open to the public, tickets are not required. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 828-1636 or the Alexandrian Society at alexsociety@vcu.edu

Recently a couple of new community blog sites have started up. They cover areas of our city adjacent to the Fan–our southern neighbors if you will. Check them out and have a look around:

Randolph West

Byrd Park

The spot that Cirrus once occupied at 1731 W. Main Street (at Allen) has been looking for a new restaurant tenant for awhile. Apparently, they’ve now found one:

Plaza Mexico

If the sign is any indication, I think this place really will be authentic. Even if I’m not crazy about Mexican, I’m glad to welcome them to the neighborhood. It’s at least sure to be better than Moe’s/Chipotle/QDoba.

Chapbook Poster

This Sunday is the second installment of the Fresh Ink literary series. The focus is on chapbooks.

Chapbook is a term currently used to denote low-cost hard copy production. Poetry chapbooks tend to focus on a specific theme, story, or form to unify the entire book. The genre has been revitalized in the past 20 years by the widespread availability of low-cost copy centers and the cultural revolutions spurred by both zines and poetry slams.

Some details: the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, the New Virginia Review, the Library or Virginia and Chop Suey Books continue the Fresh Ink literary series with a chapbook festival Sunday, April 19, from 1 to 5 at the Visual Arts Center. Doors open at 12:30 PM at 1812 W. Main Street. Various poets and writers will be reading selections from their work.

Richmond BizSense just ran a transcript from an interview with chief of the GRTC, John M. Lewis Jr.  In it he talked about the long-term plan for the bus shed at Robinson and Cary after GRTC moves its headquarters to Belt Boulevard (likely in October/November 2009). Which begs the question: What happens to the old facility?

JL: I have 10 underground tanks here, so there needs to be some environmental cleanup, and we will do that once we leave. I believe there is nothing really bad, there is nothing glowing or leaking. We’ll clean up, then our goal is to put this asset on the market. The cleanup will take probably six months to a year. Hopefully in a year and a half or two years, the economy will rebound, and we will be at the right point where we can get a great value for this asset. We’d like to partner with the developer where GRTC can get some long-term revenue over 10 to 15 years in a partnership based on the value of this property and some percentage of increased profits as a result of that development.

So, we’re looking at late 2010 before development takes place, but the rumors are already flying about what will (or should) anchor the development of that area. And it doesn’t mean we can’t start making suggestions. So, Richmond, what’ll it be? What would you most like to see at GRTC site?