Brave Bird

Judy Jamison was describing her first book to all ages of people at the Fan Arts Stroll last month, and I found her to be a natural storyteller. I guessed correctly that she’d been a primary school teacher.

By Kathy Butler Springston 06.2024

Bellevue Theatre Renovation Nears Completion

There are alternatives to the Lego School of Design rectangles that are rapidly destroying the singular skyline of Richmond with an aesthetic that has all the appeal of unending corn rows of khrushchevkas (Consider what’s happening in Scott’s Addition).

By Charles McGuigan 06.2024

Once Upon A Vine and Stir Crazy Celebrating 20 Years on MacArthur

Twenty years ago this month, two things happened on MacArthur Avenue that changed that business strip in the heart of Bellevue forever.

Bob Kocher, who had operated Price’s Market in the Fan for many years, had toyed around with the idea of opening a beer and wine shop for some time. He considered different areas of the city, but ultimately chose Bellevue.

By Charles McGuigan 05.2024

Bellevue Porchella Held 4/20/24

Bellevue Porchella, a Bellevue Civic Association event, was bigger and better than ever. Originally conceived by Brooke Ullman, the first Porchella was held in the fall of 2020 when the world was still reeling from the Covid pandemic. 

By Charles McGuigan 05.2024

All’s Well That Ends Well

Elizabeth Dudley Cann Kambourian, an amateur historian, who, through her diligent research, discovered the site of a Black cemetery in Shockoe Bottom, has lived in Richmond her entire life, all but two of those years in Bellevue, on the city’s Northside. 

By Charles McGuigan 02.2024

Primary Resident Requirements and Short Term Rentals

A lot of Richmonders were surprised that the Planning Commission is considering changes to the Primary Resident Requirements (PRRs) on Short Term Rentals (STRs). After all, if it ain’t broken why fix it. Northside civic associations oppose changes to the zoning ordinance. 

By Charles McGuigan 09.2023

Latest on the Fate of Thirteen Acres

Bob Balster, who has worked tirelessly in an effort to preserve the Thirteen Acres building, one of Northside’s oldest structures, recently released two reports: one from Historic Richmond; and another, which is essentially a response to the Historic Richmond recommendations, comes from the Hermitage Road Historic District Association, of which Bob is president. 

By Charles McGuigan 04.2023

March Briefs

-John Marshall Justices Reign Supreme

-John Shinholser Retires As President of McShin Foundation

-Hazardous Intersection of Laburnum and Hermitage

-Ramps RVA Building Independence and Mobility

-Renaming Ginter Park Elementary School

Latest on the Fate Of Thirteen Acres

Bob Balster, who has worked tirelessly in an effort to preserve the Thirteen Acres building, one of Northside’s oldest structures, recently released two reports: one from Historic Richmond; and another, which is essentially a response to the Historic Richmond recommendations, comes from the Hermitage Road Historic District Association, of which Bob is president.

By Charles McGuigan 03.2023

The Mill on MacArthur to Close; New Restaurant Opening There Soon

On February 26 The Mill on MacArthur served up its last meal. But in fairly short order another restaurant, which will maintain the quality of The Mill and its commitment to the community, will open in its place. The new owners, seasoned restaurateurs, are Northsiders. What’s more, most of the staff from The Mill will be working at the new restaurant.

By Charles McGuigan 03.2023

The Old Bellevue Theatre Is About To Get A New Life

The long-neglected Samis Grotto, sandwiched between Dot’s Back Inn and Zorba’s Pizza Express in the commercial heart of Bellevue, is about to get a long-overdue renovation thanks to a joint effort by Alex Griffith and Ben Adamson who purchased the property for $300,000 back in mid-January. The pair plan to breathe new life into this important architectural remnant of the 1930s, a structure that has been in a state of physical decline for years. 

By Charles McGuigan 03.2023

Restoring Thirteen Acres For Richmond Public Schools

We are dressed for the weather, bundled up, maybe twenty of us, waiting on the weathered porch for the key to turn. All of us want to have a look inside this historic building the city of Richmond has allowed to fall into a state of decay for well over a decade.

By Charles McGuigan 01.2023

January and February Briefs 2023

-Concert to Benefit Richmond Waldorf

-February Art Exhibits at the Main Public Library

-Lessons of the Hour: Frederick Douglass at VMFA

Last Confederate Comes Down

One hundred and thirty years ago, at the direction of Major Lewis Ginter, a nine and a half foot bronze statue of Confederate General A.P. Hill was erected atop a twenty-four and a half foot pedestal of finished granite blocks in the dead center of the intersection of Hermitage Road and Laburnum Avenue.

By Charles McGuigan 12.2022

 Christmas on MacArthur Returned December 10

After a two-year hiatus, due to the pandemic, Christmas on MacArthur returned from 10 am till 2 pm on Saturday, December 10. As always this annual Northside holiday celebration benefited Toys-for-Tots. This year they collected more than one thousand toys that the U.S, Marines picked up the day of the event.

Bellevue Street Repaving: Get Ready for Part Two

Last month a team of contractors tackled the enormous job of repaving the streets of Bellevue which were as pocked with potholes as the cratered Moon—some of them small and inconsequential, others large enough to qualify as sinkholes that could chomp out your car’s undercarriage or snap an axle like a twig.

By Charles McGuigan 11.2022

 A.P. Hill Coming Down

In the not-too-distant future, the last statue still standing in Richmond of a man who betrayed his country and fought to uphold the institution of slavery will finally come down and join many of his bronzen co-Confederates at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in Jackson Ward.

By Charles McGuigan 11.2022

A New Use For Thirteen Acres

For more than twenty years now the building that sits behind Holton Elementary School has been in a state of ever-rapid decline. Eight years after the elementary school opened, the building, commonly called Thirteen Acres, was put on a back burner, and time and the elements have taken their toll.

By Charles McGuigan 11.2022

November 2022 Briefs

-Christmas on MacArthur Returns December 10 from 10am-2pm

-Northside Art Sale Coming December 3

-Concert Ballet of Virginia’s Nutcracker 46th Season

-Jo Kennedy’s Latest Chapbook

October 2022 Briefs

-Simplicity Parenting and Open House at RWS

-Northside Art Show at LGRA Benefits FeedMore

-Antique Village Celebrates 51 Years

Virginia Repertory Theatre Purchase Scottish Rite Temple for $3.5 Million

Virginia Repertory Theatre recently purchased the Scottish Rite Temple on Hermitage Road for $3.5 million. It will become the new home for the Rep’s Children’s Theatre known as the Virginia Rep Center for Arts and Education, and will house children’s theatre productions, educational touring programs, camps, classes, and workshops.

Sylvia Phillips Regelson

1926-2022

Late last month, Richmond lost one of her greatest treasures with the passing of Sylvia Regelson. She shared her wealth of knowledge freely, and owned the most impressive shops I have ever entered—Ouroborous at the Antique Village in Hanover County.

A Memory Box Honoring Rescue Squad Volunteers and the Lakeside Community

Nico Cathcart brings her unique talent to the Lakeside Volunteer Rescue Squad with a massive mural that contains scores of individual elements nestled among hundreds of flowers, all of which celebrate the selfless volunteers of the squad, as well as the surrounding neighborhood of Lakeside.

By Charles McGuigan 09.2022

August 2022 Briefs

-31st Annual 43rd Street Festival of the Arts

-The Adams Family’s New Home

Lakeside Farmers’ Market Celebrates 15th Anniversary 

Hundreds of people, over the course of a couple of hours, visited Lakeside Farmers’ Market on its 15th anniversary, which was celebrated in mid-May. Ron Moody & The Centaurs—a Lakeside icon since the 1960s—provided the musical entertainment. Among those present were Fairfield District Supervisor Frank Thornton (currently serving his seventh term) and his wife, Betty, who, in a way, was the progenitor of the Lakeside Farmers’ Market.

By Charles McGuigan 06.2022

Cool Lane Commons Coming Soon

Earlier this month, Virginia Supportive Housing (VSH) hosted a ceremonial ground-breaking on Cool Lane Commons—a $23 million affordable housing project that encompasses 86 individual units. The Commons will be housed in a renovated and expanded vacant assisted living facility that sits on the border of Henrico County and the City of Richmond. It will offer units of more than 500 square feet to homeless and low-income people in the metro area.

By Charles McGuigan 06.2022

May Briefs 2022

-NotJ Wins 1st Place And 3rd Place VPA Awards

-Hermitage Richmond’s 2nd Annual Blessing of the Pets

-Legacy Cycling Team Film Premiere at the Byrd

April Briefs 2022

-May Faire at Richmond Waldorf on Their 25th Anniversary

-Spring Events at Hermitage Richmond

-Second Annual Caribbean American Heritage Festival

-Ginter Park Garden Club 7th Annual Spring Market

-Kristen Green at Library of Virginia

-The Art of Housing at the VMFA

Journey of a Veteran Unveiled at McGuire

Artist Ed Trask, known for his signature murals that adorn exterior walls throughout the city, most recently completed a work with fellow artist Jason Ford that honors American veterans. Unveiled last month at Hunter Holmes McGuire Hospital, this stunning mural shines a searing light on the tribulations of veterans. 

By Brigette Kelly 03.2022

January/ February Briefs 2022

-RVA Environmental Film Festival Coming Soon

-Richmond SPCA 20th Annual Dog Jog and 5k Returns

-Second Street Gallery Awarded Two-Year $80,000 Grant

-Richmond 911 Switches to Internet-Based System

-Visual Arts Center Updates COVID-19 Policies

Bellevue Halloween Party

“We are all about giving back to the community,” says Jerry DeVoss, BCA president. The organization recently donated $1500 for the Northside Mural project, and funded a small sitting park, created by Victor Ayala, at the intersection of Bellevue and Fauquier Avenues.

11.2021

Haunts of Richmond Announces New Tours for Winter Season

Haunts of Richmond, the longest-running ghost tour company in Richmond is proud to announce new tours for the 2021-2022 winter season. 

Founded in 2004, Haunts of Richmond offers walking tours in Shockoe Bottom, Church Hill, Capitol Hill and along Franklin Street, along with a variety of special events, including haunted dinners and pub crawls.

11.2021

A.P. Hill: Last Confederate Standing

After death most of us are buried just one time. That wasn’t the case though for Confederate General Ambrose Powell Hill. To date he’s been buried on three separate occasions. And fairly soon he’ll be re-interred once again.

By Charles McGuigan 10.2021

Ed Trask’s Northside Narrative Mural Coming to Bellevue Before Thanksgiving 

Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, as they travel north or south on Brook Road, will soon lay eyes on a panoramic visual narrative describing the diverse and progressive communities that make up Richmond’s Northside.

By Charles McGuigan 09.2021

Vegan Voices

Northsider Joanne Kong, a longtime voice of the vegan movement, just edited a new work scheduled for release in early October.

 Titled “Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers” this is a comprehensive collection of compelling testimonials of how our food choices are deeply connected to the pressing challenges and issues of our time. 

By Joanne Kong, PhD 09.2021

Sit-Down Dining Returns at Stir Crazy and The Mill

Two of Northside’s favorite spots are again open for sit-down dining—Stir Crazy Café and The Mill on MacArthur, both located in the heart of Bellevue.

The other restaurants along MacArthur—Dot’s Back Inn, Demi’s Mediterranean Kitchen, Zorba’s Pizza Express, and Mi Jalisco—have been open for seated dining for some time now.

By Charles McGuigan 08.2021

Juneteenth at Six Points: Celebrating Youth and Freedom

On Juneteenth at Six Points in Highland Park, the streets were closed off as hundreds gathered to celebrate what is often called Second Independence Day. Whether you call it Juneteenth or Freedom Day or Jubilee Day or Cel-Liberation Day or Emancipation Day, this day commemorates that singular event that occurred on Galveston Island, Texas more than a century and a half ago.

By Charles McGuigan 07.2021

Taste of Brookland Park Boulevard on May Day

No better way to celebrate May Day than a Taste of Brookland Park Boulevard. From noon till five on May 1, hundreds strolled up and down Brookland Park Boulevard, sampling food, drinks and ice cream, chatting, listening to music, wearing face masks, enjoying this mid-way mark between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice.

05.2021

A Quarry Story

Quarries sometimes hold secrets, so you’ve got to dig deep. Particularly if those quarries were once filled with water. That’s certainly the case with the three quarries that once operated on the land that became Joseph Bryan Park.  

By Fayeruz Regan 04.2021

Brookland Park Market: A Neighborhood Gem

After this unthinkable year of extreme take-out dining, I was ready to try something new, and I remembered the many enthusiastic recommendations from several friends about Brookland Park, starting last fall.

By Anne Jones 04.2021

The Mill at Ten: Always Evolving

Last March, when the pandemic began shutting down the economy, local restaurant owners had to restructure the way they do business. On March 18, Amy Foxworthy, one of the owners and founders of one of Northside’s most popular eateries, locked the door at The Mill on MacArthur.

By Charles McGuigan 04.2021

Parklets on MacArthur Avenue

Parklets create a more pedestrian- and bike-friendly environment. They’re sort of like communal front porches that invite neighbors to congregate in a public space. What’s more, parklets allow local restaurants to increase outdoor dining opportunities. They’ve been a great success in progressive cities from Savannah to San Francisco, and they add a European flair to the streetscape.

By Charles McGuigan 04.2021

Bellevue Garden Walk Returns April 25 

The Bellevue Garden Walk may well be the most intimate of garden tours in the region, and each year (except for the one just past) it has consistently illustrated the beauty, the individuality and the creative drive of Bellevue homeowners reflected in their mini-estates. 

One Three Guitar: Sales, Repairs, Lessons

Late one afternoon, as sunlight drained out of the world and the acorn street lights along MacArthur Avenue winked on in rapid succession, I met a group of Bellevue residents who were just stepping out of the newest shop to open on Bellevue’s interior commercial strip.

By Charles McGuigan 03.2020

Bellevue Porchella: ACT II, May 15

From the moment it ended, people were calling for an encore.

Bellevue Porchella, which sprang to life last October, was the brainchild of Brooke Ullman. On May 15, with May 22 as a rain date, Bellevue Porchella returns. What’s more, this day of music will repeat again in the early fall, becoming a semiannual event in the Northside.

By Charles McGuigan 03.2020

Where in the Bellevue?!

Black Mirror Medicine for the Soul

“Let’s meet on the Bellevue dance floor,” they suggested. It was a euphemism of course.  At the new brick patio on the corner of Fauquier and Bellevue, I was to meet the people behind Where in the Bellevue?! (@where_in_the_bellevue), the Instagram account that’s been on my neighbors’ lips for almost a year.

Victor Ayala Completes Masonry on Bellevue’s Latest Addition

Victor Ayala, a master mason and owner of My Outdoor Project, just completed a project that will benefit the entire Bellevue community.

Mural Reflecting Northside’s Values of Inclusivity and Unity Coming to MacArthur Avenue in Bellevue

Aliza Sterling, owner of True North Yoga and Wellness on Richmond’s Northside, is working in conjunction with artist Nico Cathcart to create a massive mural on the north elevation of her shop on MacArthur Avenue that will extend from the sidewalk to the alley.

Matt Lively’s New Mural at HOBNOB: It’s All About Fifties

In early December, Matt Lively is putting the finishing touches on a mural that spans the entire south wall of HOBNOB on Hermitage Road. One of his signature beecycle murals already graces the north wall of the same Lakeside restaurant.

By Charles McGuigan 12.2020

Bellevue’s Light Up the ‘Hood Holiday Light Event 

Light Up the ‘Hood holiday light event is another wonderful opportunity to get out of the house with friends and family, social distancing, of course, and take in Bellevue’s incredible holiday decorations! 

Alexsis Rodgers and Kim Gray In Richmond Mayoral Race

From the moment Richmond mayoral candidates burst from the gate, there were two notable front runners. Both are Black, both are women, both were born and raised in the Richmond area. This, too: both of them are critical of the incumbent mayor’s leadership.

By Charles McGuigan 10.2020

Election: 2020 Decision

North of the James reached out to candidates for several local elections—Mayor, and 3rd District Council and School Board representatives. We asked each of them to give a brief platform state.

09.2020

NORTHSIDE Dental Co Opens in Northside

One of Northside’s newest neighbors opened its doors for the first time last month during the COVID-19 pandemic. The space at the corner of Westwood and Hermitage had been undergoing extensive renovation for months.   

Demi’s Reopens, Dot’s Expands Outdoors

Jimmy Tsamouras recently reopened his Demi’s Mediterranean Kitchen in Bellevue. The hours have changed somewhat from five to nine Tuesday through Thursday and five till ten on Friday and Saturday.

08.2020

A.P. Hill: The Last Man Standing

When my son Charles attended Linwood Holton Elementary School, it always struck me as odd that his Black classmates, every single day, had to look at a statue to a man who fought to preserve the enslavement of Black people.

By Charles McGuigan 07.2020

COVID-19 Teens

COVID-19 has changed the way we live. Teenagers and young adults have been affected in unique ways. For one thing, graduations have been held differently during the pandemic. They have been wearing masks when in public, staying six feet apart from other people, and properly washing their hands.

By Charles Brandon Rapp McGuigan 08.2020

Bellevue Mutual Aid: Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Bellevue—bounded by Hermitage and Brook roads to the east and west, and Laburnum and Westbrook avenues to the south and north—is one of the most progressive neighborhoods in the city, peppered liberally with well-informed citizens—artists, writers, musicians, craftsmen, teachers, lawyers, and many other professionals.

By Charles McGuigan 05.2020