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May 13 Newsletter: Not a playground

Weather: Sunny and 78, with a chance of evening storms.

On this date in 1973, 1,000 workers at the Hercules chemical plant in Hopewell walk off the job in a strike for better wages. The strike is resolved two weeks later with raises of up to 40-cents-an-hour and a 10th paid holiday.

Today's newsletter sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University: As a top 50 public research institution, Virginia Commonwealth University has an unparalleled drive to discover, innovate and create. VCU impacts the human experience and tackles the problems of tomorrow. It's a university unlike any you’ve ever seen.

Don't call it a playground: Belle Isle's new 'Nature Exploration Area' is the future of park play

The project, which officially opens tomorrow, will reshape the meadow that visitors first encounter when arriving on the island from the suspension bridge across the James River.

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Rather than adding traditional playground equipment, the area will encourage unstructured interaction with the environment for those 5-years-old and under.

“Playground comes with other notions about what the space should offer,” said one of the designers. “This is something more to emphasize the context of where it is — the rapids, the logjams, all of the wonderful things that wash up on shore from the James.” Read more here.

After late-night procedural maneuvering, Lavender Hill event space permit is voted down by City Council

Months of bitter fighting over a proposed West End event space ended with a Monday night vote by City Council to reject a special use permit that would have allowed outdoor events at Lavender Hill.

The vote had been on Council’s docket since its Jan. 12 meeting, but Monday night’s resolution was a chaotic one, as one Councilor motioned to vote seconds before another could motion for another deferral. Read more here.

83 units of affordable housing for seniors arrives on Richmond's Southside

At a Monday morning ceremony, officials cut the ribbon on a new project that will provide 83 units of affordable housing for senior citizens in Richmond.

It was a space previously occupied by a train servicing station, which has been repurposed into a community room as part of the development. Read more here.

7 takeaways from Richmond’s FY27 budget process

The new budget — which avoids layoffs and major service cuts but has few major new initiatives or programs — will take effect July 1.

Mayor Danny Avula and his aides sat in the audience for the duration of Monday’s budget discussion. In a statement after the vote, Avula said he was “grateful to all who leaned in throughout this process.” Read the takeaways here.

Today's sponsor:

VCU aims to be ‘an international hub’ for research, VP Rao says in annual address

During the recent annual State of the Research event, P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D., VCU vice president for research and innovation: 

  • Detailed VCU’s robust research growth - 109% growth in sponsored research funding since 2018.
  • Reinforced that research is fundamental to VCU’s mission - from undergraduate projects to licensed innovations.
  • Provided an overview of the university’s research accomplishments, including recognizing some of VCU’s most notable faculty researchers.
  • Announced VCU’s ambitious new goal to reach $1 billion in sponsored research funding.

Read more.

In other news

The editor's desk

If you haven't taken a moment to nominate a community hero to our Richmonder 25 program, I'd encourage you to do so soon! Nominations close tomorrow.

Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org

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