VCU demolition update - Before and After, Part Deux

Here's an update to the third most viewed post on the site, Five buildings VCU will tear down next month. Those five buildings are long gone, as I posted about in an update entitled: VCU demolition update - Before and After.

Here is what the 1000 block of Floyd Av looks like as of March 2013, the soon to be VCU Academic Learning Commons at 1000 Floyd Ave:

Here are the buildings that used to stand on this block: The Baptist Student Union at 1000-1002 Floyd Ave, built in 1905:

Row houses at 102 (built in 1900), 104 (built in 1900) and 106 (built in 1910) North Linden Street:

109 North Harrison Street - Education Annex, built in 1954:

Fun in the snow at VCU - 1979

In honor of the snowstorm that became rain that became snow again today, here's a great shot of a VCU student "skiing" down Franklin Street in front of Rhoads Hall in 1979.

Photo courtesy of VCU Libraries

Second Best Thing You Ever Put Into Your Mouth

Hee's a great ad for The Chicken Box from the October 19-25, 1982 issue of VCU's Commonwealth Times. Looks like this building is now occupied by the Eastern Express. LOVE their tagline...

Ad courtesy of VCU Libraries

Fan Holiday House Tour - 1969

The 50th annual Fan Holiday House Tour is today and tomorrow. Here's a great poster for the 1969 tour:

Ad courtesy of The Library of Virginia

Gwar - Halloween 1986 at VCU

Gwar - Shafer Court at VCU, October 31st, 1986:

Photos courtesy of VCU Libraries

VCU Art Students - 1969

Photo courtesy of VCU Libraries

VCU - Hibbs construction and Shafer Court - 1967

From the 1967 RPI Cobblestone yearbook...One year before Richmond Professional Institute became Virginia Commonwealth University.

Click the photos below for the high resolution images.

Photos courtesy of VCU Libraries

Snow in The Fan - 1964

Could have been taken last night, huh? Well, except for the cars...Great shot of snow falling in The Fan from the 1964 RPI (VCU) Cobblestone yearbook. Can anyone figure out what street this is?

Photo courtesy of VCU Libraries

VCU demolition update - Before and After

Wow, I've had a real lack of posts here this month, huh? I've been busy, but I'll try and pick up the pace around here...

Time for some updates on the "progress" of VCU's old buildings. First up, the old Common Groundz coffee shop building at 734-736 West Broad Sreet. This 1889 building is now officially gone. I first wrote about this building here, and followed up with another post here.

Before:

Today:

Next up are the row houses at 102 (built in 1900), 104 (built in 1900) and 106 (built in 1910) North Linden Street. Gone as well. I wrote about them here last summer.

Before:

Today:

Last is the Baptist Student Union at 1000-1002 Floyd Ave, built in 1905. You guessed it, gone. Written about here last Summer as well.

Before:

Today:

I didn't take a picture of the former VCU Education Annex building (1954) at 109 North Harrison Street, but you can see in the background of the photo above where it used to stand (on the left).

For now, the VCU Meeting Center at 101 North Harrison Street is being saved. It was built in 1906, and has a fairly storied past. But will it really be saved? The VCU six year capital plan calls for another classroom building on Floyd, right next to the one being built this year. See the map on page 25 of the linked PDF that shows another new VCU classroom building on the exact spot where this over 100 year old former church sits today:

VCU - skating and biking Shafer Ct - 1968

Some great shots from the year RPI became Virginia Commonwealth University. Proving that even in the late 60s, Shafer Court was the place to hang out/show off, and that skaters were a part of Shafer Court a lot earlier than I realized. Too bad first the gravel, then bricks ruined that. Check out those Schwinn Stingrays!

Photos courtesy of VCU Libraries

The Fan - 1963

Funny thing about old photos of The Fan, they look very similar to a picture of The Fan taken last week. With one exception: The cars! I love this shot of The Fan from February of 1963 for that very reason. Anyone know what street/block this is?

Photo courtesy of VCU Libraries

Richmond grocery store circa 1924

Today's pic comes from Flickr user PLCjr. I'll let him explain it:

"Not sure of the exact date but it is my wife's dad in knickers pictured at his job. This may be a Sanitary store in Richmond's Fan. Items on the rack next to him are marked Virginia. (There's a ton of detail in the original size picture.)

My wife can't remember where the store may have been. She remembers her dad telling her it was near Monroe Park. It may have been the old Style building at 1301 Main Street (which I worked in) or somewhere on the 1400 block of Main.

It was "Sanitary Grocery" because everything was out of customers reach and a clerk would retrieve your goods. A very hygienic clerk I guess :-)."

The Village Restaurant - 1963

I recently read an article in the Richmond Times Dispatch about the passing of the original owner of The Village restaurant on Grace Street: Stavros D. "Steve" Dikos. I was reminded of the photo below from the 1963 VCU yearbook The Cobblestone. It's of the original location, across the street from the current Village.

Photo courtesy of VCU Libraries

Five buildings VCU will tear down next month.

Let me start this post by saying that I am a graduate of VCU, and they have done some great things for this city. I should also mention that a lot of the pictures I use on this site were saved, scanned and hosted by VCU Libraries. Unfortunately, preserving historic architecture isn't one of VCU's strong points. Take a look around the Monroe Park campus: Almost all of the city blocks those buildings, tennis courts and parking lots reside on were once filled with turn of the century row houses.

After a fairly high profile article in the Times-Dispatch Monday on future construction at VCU, I thought I would give a face to the buildings VCU is planning to raze next month. Will the world end when these five buildings are torn down? Of course not. But VCU has quietly (and not so quietly at times) been removing old historic buildings for decades. So as it states in the article above, and another article from February of 2010, there's probably no true historical significance to these five buildings surrounded by parking lots. But taken as a whole, this demolished stretch of the Fan District is very historically significant. Just because VCU has taken 40+ years to raze the block they're about to build on doesn't mean we should give them a pass.

Both of the articles mentioned above state there were no objections from any Fan residents. Is this true? I find that hard to believe, and I hope some Fan residents (and others, for or against this project) leave their thoughts in the comments below.

Below are the buildings that will be demolished next month, and the years built.

102 North Linden Street, built in 1900:

104 North Linden Street, built in 1900:

106 North Linden Street, built in 1910:

1000-1002 Floyd Ave - Baptist Student Union, built in 1905:

109 North Harrison Street - Education Annex, built in 1954:

Thankfully, the VCU Meeting Center at 101 North Harrison Street will be saved. It was built in 1910, and has a fairly storied past. But will it really be saved? The VCU six year capital plan calls for another classroom building on Floyd, right next to the one being built this year. And there won't be any space left on that block except for this former church:

And what will take the place of these mostly 100+ year old buildings? Definitely not the worst when it comes to modern VCU buildings, but I for one will be sad to see it built.

Kris Kristofferson at The Mosque - 1973

38 years ago today Kris Kristofferson played The Mosque with Rita Coolidge.

Today's ad comes from the April 27th, 1973 issue of the University of Richmond's newspaper The Collegian.

Photo courtesy of the University of Richmond's Boatwright Library/Digital Initiatives

Eric Clapton at The Mosque - April 25th, 1979

From the March 29th, 1979 issue of the University of Richmond's newspaper The Collegian comes this ad for Eric Clapton at The Mosque with opener the Muddy Waters Blues Band...32 years ago today!

Photo courtesy of the University of Richmond's Boatwright Library/Digital Initiatives

3001 West Grace Street - 1960

From April 4th, 1960 comes this shot of the 3000 block of West Grace Street in The Museum District. Other than the great cars, this looks like it could have been taken a few months ago. Nice to see these buildings still standing, although in The Fan and the Museum District, that's kind of a given. Unless the houses/buildings are near VCU...I'll save that subject for some future posts.

Photo courtesy of The Library of Virginia's Adolph B. Rice Studio collection

Uncovering Monument Ave cobblestones - 1974

I remember reading years ago about a Monument Avenue resident who courageously stood in front of the trucks and equipment that were set to pave over the cobblestones. So I was a bit surprised to find these images of city workers removing pavement on Monument Ave to reveal the old cobblestones. However, a close inspection of the second to last image below shows only the approach to the Lee traffic circle (and the circle itself) as being paved. The rest appears unpaved. Below is a quote I found on this website.

"...the planned repaving of Monument Avenue in 1968 provided an opportunity for public discussion. Helen Marie Taylor, the owner of a huge mansion at 2325 Monument, stood in front of a paving machine that was to lay asphalt over the original asphalt Belgian blocks. Commuters and residents alike complained about the noise the blocks made when driven over, but when it came to repaving, the residents chose history over progress: The earlier events had primed the public, so when Mrs. Taylor blocked the work of the paving machine, the entire city joined in the debate. The homeowners and preservationists won the battle after some months, and Monument Avenue's fate had become a part of the public agenda."

The photos below are from June of 1974 and were taken at the end of the 1600 block of Monument Ave, heading west, almost right in front of a building I lived in for a year. Anyone know if the woman in the second picture is Helen Marie Taylor? Little did these workers know they were dooming hundreds of parked cars in the Lee Circle for years to come: Those cobblestones are slippery when wet! I personally saw a good dozen cars hit while I lived there. But I'm still glad they removed the pavement.

Click the photos below for the high resolution images.

Photos courtesy of VCU Libraries

Rhoads Hall entrance, VCU - September 1968

I don't think words can do this amazing image of the entrance to VCU's Rhoads Hall justice, so just enjoy it's mid-century modern greatness. Sadly, when VCU opened Brandt Hall in 2005, they replaced this great entrance with something much more sterile. If memory serves me correctly, up to that point it had remained largely intact, including the hanging white lights.

Photo courtesy of VCU Libraries

Bruce Springsteen at The Back Door - 1972

The flyer below is for three of the nine shows Bruce Springsteen played at The Back Door with his band in February of 1972, 39 years ago this weekend. The Back Door was located at 929 West Grace St, and has had many names over the years, including Twisters, 929, Chronos Cafe and Nanci Raygun. It's the current location of Strange Matter.

Flyer courtesy of Brucebase