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March 20 Newsletter: Maymont mansion's glow-up

Weather: Cloudy and 71 today ahead of a weekend warm-up.

On this date in 1979, a truck carrying 1,000 pounds of pesticides and herbicides crashes into Midlothian High School before school hours. It took eight hours to remove the truck from the building.

After two-year closure, Maymont Mansion again opens its doors to visitors

When you’re over 100 years old, you can be forgiven for taking two years for some self-care — and then throwing a giant party to show off how fabulous you look. 

This Saturday, Maymont Mansion — the finest example of a Gilded Age home in Richmond and a crown jewel of the city — opens its doors once again to the public after a lengthy closure for major repairs. 

The gray roof has been replaced with red slate sourced from upstate New York, to match how it would have been as the Dooley family lived in it. See more from inside the mansion here.

Study finds rezoning impacts will be limited in single family neighborhoods due to lot layouts, economics

A study commissioned by the city found that even under the most intense development scenario, Richmond’s citywide rezoning would lead to the addition of new units on just under 300 lots in existing single family neighborhoods annually.

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The least dense neighborhoods — those that would be designated as RD-A under the code refresh — would likely see virtually no new development, according to the study. 

One official said the study demonstrates that increases in density as a result of the city’s proposed code refresh will almost certainly be more gradual in established neighborhoods than some residents have feared. Read more here.

VCU's incredible comeback win headlines a wild day of basketball

With less than 7 minutes remaining in Thursday night's game, VCU trailed favored North Carolina by 14 points, and things looked bleak. By one metric, they had less than a 1% chance of winning the game. Then...

  • Terrence Hill Jr. led the Rams to a win with 34 points.
  • Richmond's sports bars lost their minds.
  • The Rams won a tournament game for the first time in 10 years.
  • And VCU is now one of only seven teams to beat Duke, Kansas and North Carolina during the NCAA men's tournament.

"This is what March does," coach Phil Martelli Jr. said after the game. VCU, the No. 11 seed, will face No. 3 Illinois tomorrow at about 8 p.m. (Times-Dispatch game recap)

Richmond plans to expand homebuying assistance program to RPS employees

With the clock ticking on Richmond’s access to federal dollars meant to help city government workers buy their first home, officials are now looking to expand the program to school employees.

  • Eligible employees could receive $25,000 towards a down payment and closing costs, if Council approves the program's expansion.

Recipients must be full-time employees with at least one year of service and a gross household income of no more than $120,000 for a two-person household or $138,000 for bigger households. Recipients can purchase a home for no more than $550,000 and cannot have owned or purchased a home within the last three years. Read more here.

'We the People' exhibit at VMHC is part of extensive programming for America's 250th birthday

The Virginia Museum of History and Culture will debut its newest exhibit on Saturday, telling the stories of people born in 68 different countries who sought freedom, opportunity, and refuge by immigrating to the United States. 

"We the People: The World in Our Commonwealth" is part of the museum's extensive efforts around the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, and will be on display until Sept. 7. Read more here.

In other news

The editor's desk

An incredible comeback and win for VCU. In the moment, I'm calling it the third-biggest win in program history. Let's see if they can get another.

Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org

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