Storing Bikes for Story Rides

Catherine Illian, owner of Richmond Rides applied to work with Storefront to develop a storage solution for Richmond Rides, a new bicycle tour company that shares a small space with Cyclus bike shop at 2225 East Clay Street. Volunteer Evan MacKenzie developed three concepts to store 16 bikes and helmets. Each concept provides racks that can accommodate 14 bikes, while leaving room for 2 extra bikes in the space.

When not in storage, these bikes wheel around Church Hill on tours like this:

Our this tour of historic Church Hill, you will learn about the neighborhood where Richmond was founded through the lives of its most memorable residents. As you ride, you will also experience some of Richmond’s delicious eats and amazing views in this beautiful and historic city. Some of the characters you discover along the way include its celebrated and sometimes overlooked heroes.

Sugar Show

The remaining concrete slab of the Domino Sugar factory at 3101 Wharf Street has served as a user-defined public space for Richmonders to fish, stargaze, and picnic.

 

Meanwhile, the completion of the Capital Trail abutting this lo-fi riverfront plaza and the adjacent development of Stone Brewery prompts some users to consider the Sugar Pad's relationship to its surroundings. This Friday, Storefront will feature work by designers Adele Ball and Ben Evyan inspired by their romance with the Sugar Pad.

Ben Evyan

Byrd Park Community Engagement

The Friends of William Byrd Park and Storefront for Community Design would like to use your feedback to help prioritize park improvements and to learn what park users enjoy. When referring to Byrd Park we mean the whole park including: Dogwood Dell, the Carillon, the trails behind the Carillon down to Pump House Drive, the three lakes (Fountain/Boat, Swan, and Shields), the VITA course, the tennis courts, the baseball and softball fields, Barker Field, the Roundhouse, the Landing, the Shields Lake shelter and picnic area, and all of the open green space in between.

Three public meetings are scheduled:
9/3/15 from 7pm-9pm at the Roundhouse in Byrd Park: Following the regular meeting of the Friends of William Byrd Park, survey results will be shared and prioritization will begin.

9/10/15 & 9/16/15 from 4pm-9pm at the Virginia Home, 1101 Hampton Street: Open prioritization voting will take place.  Stop by for 20 minutes anytime during the open hours to vote on your top priorities for the park.

The following 30 questions should take you about 10 minutes to complete.  This survey will be open from June 22, 2015 - September 1, 2015 at 5pm EST.  All users of the park, regardless of geographic location, are invited and encouraged to fill out this survey and share it with their friends. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please contact Ryan Rinn (ryan@storefrontrichmond.org).

Image (banner): Dementi Studios: Swimming at Shield’s Lake shields shield bathing suit suits water park summer sun bathing bikini diving board.

Beautify Bellevue Group Seeks Support to Restore Treewells

Storefront volunteer consultant Scott Wiley provided a planting schedule for a swath of sidewalk in the Bellevue neighborhood.

On behalf of Beautify Bellevue, Linda Decker applied to work with Storefront to develop concepts for streetscape improvements along Lamont Street in the Bellevue community. For this anomalous strip of asphalt, Linda requested assistance in plant placement and permitting. Landscape Architect and Bellevue resident Scott Wiley provided a plan that recycles portions of the asphalt for the abutting on-street parking, with smaller plantings and additional tree wells in- between. With the exception of some aspects of asphalt removal (it is actually soft), most of this work can be implemented by volunteers. Scott communicated with Arborist Luke McCall and Right of Way Engineer Doug Mawby from the City of Richmond’s Department of Public Works. They advised the group to apply for a Work in Streets Permit and Street Tree Planting Application. If necessary, Storefront staff can help Beautify Bellevue navigate these processes. 

Imagine a Bridge...

Throughout the month of June, Storefront invited Bridge Park to share its vision of a park that spans the James River — dramatically increasing river access while addressing some of our downtown’s most challenging gaps in connectivity between city and river levels. Style Weekly's architecture critic Ed Slipek stopped by Storefront to check out BridgePark during its residency throughout the month of June.

Read more.

Find Design Here

Without the hundreds of hours donated by Storefront's, our programs would not be possible. Through Storefront's Design Session program, over 120 professional volunteers assist applicants with the first 10 percent design processes. For the other 90 percent of the process, the Directory for Design Community aims to provide a resource for aspects of design projects that go beyond the scope of Storefront's programs. Use the directory when:
 

• Storefront staff determines that your design needs should be initiated by a private practice.
• You would like to maintain a dialogue with Storefront, but can afford to hire a professional designer to initiate your project.
• When projects need a push beyond conceptual and technical assistance provided through Storefront's Design Session program.

East End Listening: What We Heard

Storefront staff located at Creighton Court's resource center to engage residents about redevelopment.

As part of the team with the City of Richmond, Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA), The Community Builders (TCB), VCU Center on Society & Health, the Informed Neighbors Corps and residents of Church Hill North, the Storefront for Community Design began a passive engagement process to assist in providing perspective and insight from residents in and around Creighton Court. This was our first interjection into the neighborhood to begin the process of being present and gaining perspective on things they have heard, things that are still unclear, and their hopes for the future.

City Stadium Neighborhood: Keep the Kickers

The redevelopment of the City Stadium Site is of importance to the entire greater Richmond region, but this engagement process focused on the input and perspectives of those neighbors in closest proximity to the site—the people who interact with the site on a daily basis. The neighborhoods specifically targeted were: the Stadium Neighborhood, the Carillon, Carytown South, Rothesay Circle, and Carytown.

Storefront led a prioritization exercise which revealed that most of the surrounding neighborhoods prefer the City Stadium site (currently used by the Richmond Kickers soccer team), continue use as sports complex.

Scott's Addition Workshop Report

In June of 2013, the Scott’s Addition Business Association (SABA) and City Councilman Charles Samuels engaged Storefront to conduct a series of neighborhood workshops to develop a community design action plan.

Robinson Street Association Identifies Streetscape Needs

Storefront responded to a request from the newly formed Robinson Street Association to assist in a prioritization process by, first, organizing an urban design walk down the corridor with members of the City of Richmond’s Department of Planning and Development Review (PDR) in February of 2013. This report is a result of workshops around those observations.