So Much Pain – So Little Gain
Today’s RTD Business section reveals what looks to be the final chapter for a century old building on Broad Street. Most recently the home of Common Groundz Coffeehouse and a collection of 2nd floor apartments, VCU is using the privately held VCU Real Estate Foundation to bypass review by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
Because the building at Broad and Gilmer is not state property, it is owned by the VCU Real Estate Foundation rather than the university, it is not subject to review by her department.
The department (of Historic Resources) was made aware of the VCU plans as a courtesy but had no formal role because foundations by law are considered private entities.
VCU plans to erase another piece of Richmond history and replace it with an extension of the already hideous dorm building. The net gain will be 70 extra beds for VCU Students.
Douglas Kleffner, past chair of the Carver Area Civic Improvement League real estate committee, said he’s disappointed VCU plans to tear down a historic building “for not a lot of gain.”
Once again VCU is sacrificing the long term interests of the community for it’s short term interests. A broader vision of the future should include preserving historic structure where possible. This is too bad, because VCU was built to serve the community, not destroy it. They are currently seeking permission to build a much larger development on Marshall Street that shows a lot more planning. I don’t know if we have any leverage in this case, but I’d like to see progress on that project contingent on preserving these buildings. 70 beds won’t make a bit of difference to VCU, hardly worth the good will that they will lose by steamrolling this project.
FYI, the project on Marshall is NOT by VCU but by a private developer who intends to market to VCU students. Also, I really don’t see any significant historical attachment to that building. Sure it’s a contributing structure to the historic district, but so are a lot of other structures in the area. Individually, this structure really doesn’t stand out as a critical historic structure. In contrast, the old Richmond Ashland Railway depot at Broad and Laurel is a much more iconic structure. Historic preservation can be a noble goal, but we shouldn’t endeavor to freeze our urban fabric at a certain date.
Just a point of clarification:
It is Gilbane Development Co, (the group behind 8 1/2 Canal) that is seeking permissions for the Marshall Street Development. Not VCU.
Also, my biggest fear is not that the old building is coming down. My greatest fear is of whats being put up in its stead. Currently, that block is already just about dead due (mostly) to the unwelcoming dorm facade, but extending the lifeless brick facade of the dorms to the end of the block will snuff out any remaining hope for even the least bit of street-level activity.
I would say its the most lifeless, dull, boring section on Broad Street between Belvidere and Lombardy. A close second would be the largely-lifeless stretch of Broad Street along the western half of the super block created by the art school building.
VCU has an Urban Studies and Planning program with competent professors and educators. One has to wonder if they were at all consulted in the planning of some of the school’s projects.
The “much larger development on Marshall Street” is not a VCU project. It is being planned by a private developer – Gilbane. So no leverage to use.
A couple thoughts.
Marshall Street is absolutely in a different category. In fact I support it.
Jay: My point exactly. VCU is taking down a recently renovated 120 year old building and replacing it with, as you say, a
Worse yet, just to provide 70 more student beds.
Fred: The building in question is exactly the kind of dual purpose structure we should be save, reminiscent of time when storefronts were the norm and shopkeepers often lived above their stores. To tear it down and replace it with the sterile nonsense described above is just stupid, no insult intended. When I drive down this section of Broad I get nauseous. VCU can be teaching life lessons to students by respecting the character of the community they are living in.
Here’s a bit of history on this location from Vintage Richmond.
734-736 West Broad St – VCU demolition?
Paul, I agree with your concerns, but Richmond overall does not care any more about your historic storefront than they did about the historic stables that were torn down for the VCU student rec center in Green Alley.
Hell, the Times Disgrace was printing lies about the renovated, occupied state of the stables.
The state DHR was reluctant to step in because of political reasons- Trani was considered too powerful to disagree with.
One day Richmond will wake up and realize what they sacrificed at VCU’s altar. Until then, I commiserate with you and hope you and others understand a little bit better how this City operates- badly.
It now I think the Broad and Belvedere apartments are a massive architectural failure as much as the next guy, but it seems like people are getting ‘historical’ confused with ‘old’. I would be more interested to find out what was done with the old Style Craft sign that used to be on the front of the building.
I didn’t think Common Groundz was still open. What’s in the building now? Probably not 70 students.
Common Groundz has been closed for several years. I read elsewhere that vcu evicted the upstairs tenants and has kept the building empty since purchasing it.
That building has a significant personal history with my friends and I. Common Groundz used to host shows and the lead singer of my favorite band has performed there before. Although this isn’t significant to many people at all, I think it could be a thriving retail/commercial space for students near by and students that prefer private accommodations, like myself, could easily fill the upstairs space. What a shame, VCU.
@Jay: “VCU has an Urban Studies and Planning program with competent professors and educators. One has to wonder if they were at all consulted in the planning of some of the school’s projects.” The answer to that is an unqualified no. VCU administration rarely if ever consults with its own Urban Planning program about plans for growth and development.
Just wanted to clarify that I do agree that the existing dorm is not ideal, particularly in that is is a dead space on the sidewalk. I’m just saying we shouldn’t be so attached to the old structures. We should be more interested in creating good urban space and in that regard the VCU is expanding into this space it would be better to include some ground floor retail in that space to help liven up the street. I suspect, though, that there isn’t much interest in doing that given the previous failure of retail in that location.
Also, just wanted to note, isn’t VCU doing exactly what the Carver neighborhood wants here, i.e. housing its own students, instead of encouraging them to live in off-campus housing in the neighborhood? Just a thought.
The bottom line is that VCU believes its own growth is only thing that matters.
The administration has fostered this arrogance and the “Independent” VCU student media is evidently cheerleading it:
http://www.commonwealthtimes.org/?p=19533
That was one of the worst columns I’ve ever read. It reads like an advertisement. Maybe he’s a dual major.
[...] foundation turned Common Groundz, pictured above, into this, sometime last week in order to provide 27 more beds for VCU students. The 120 year old building had stood on Broad for parts of 3 [...]