Dec. 13 Newsletter: $65 million community center investment is nearing completion
Weather: Gray, high of 48.
On this date in 1981, a line forms from the Dooley Mansion to Maymont’s park entrance as the home is opened to the public and decorated as it would have been for a Victorian Christmas.
Richmond put $65 million toward new and improved community centers. They’re almost done.
When Richmond received COVID relief money from the American Rescue Plan Act, it opted to allocate $65 million of those funds, about 40%, towards constructing and renovating four community centers.
Richmond hasn't built new community centers in almost 25 years, and Mayor Levar Stoney led a tour of them this week as part of what he's dubbing his "Faring Well Tour" as he leaves office.
- Lucks Field (Church Hill), T.B. Smith (Davee Gardens) and Southside (Midlo Turnpike) community centers should open in the summer, while work at Calhoun, near Gilpin Court, only recently began.
“We’re going to start seeing Chesterfield folks in here,” Stoney quipped.
Read more, and see photos from the tour, here.
Virginia Union’s accrediting probation is extended, but the school’s president disputes negative interpretations of a recent audit
Virginia Union was put on probation last year by the group that accredits the university, and that probation was extended for another year over the weekend.
- The group found irregularities in four categories, largely related to management of the school's finances.
The school remains accredited while on probation.
VUU’s financial report, prepared by Brown Edwards and obtained by The Richmonder, showed that in the most recent reporting year, the school had $74.3 million in net assets, though $50.6 million of that was donor-restricted.
Among the audit’s findings were that donor-restricted funds have been used in the past for general purposes.
School president Hakim J. Lucas believes that a focus on the negative aspects of the report is overshadowing the progress VUU made.
The school is working on a strategy of monetizing its land holdings through development to increase non-tuition revenues.
Read more on that strategy, and thoughts from Lucas on the audit, here.
Also today in The Richmonder:
Rob Witham
Capital News Service
In other news:
- Movieland at Boulevard Square undergoing $5 million dollar renovation, upgrades (Times-Dispatch)
- Diverging Vision for the Fall Line Trail Route Through the City of Richmond (What's Next, Richmond?)
- Why these Virginia newlyweds hit the Taco Bell drive-thru on their wedding night (CBS 6)
The editor's desk
The new Lucks Field Community Center will have a rooftop basketball court, which is going to become a hotspot for local hoopers and anybody who loves a great view. Luckily, we've all got six months to practice our jumpers before it opens.
Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org
