VCU, Richmond plan $6.2 million Monroe Park revamp

Nan Turner
Staff Writer

To the hundreds of students passing through Monroe Park every day, the space is completely familiar — from the fountain to the friends playing Frisbee or soccer on a Sunday afternoon. However, soon Richmond’s historic park could be looking a lot different.

The city and VCU are hoping to begin work on a major renovation of the park sometime as early as this spring. The improvements are projected to cost $6.2 million.

Speaking to the Times-Dispatch, Wayne M. Turner, VCU President Michael Rao’s chief of staff, said “the proposed redesign is very impressive, and although VCU does not own the property, its central campus location means that the benefits of the project will inure to both the city and the university.”

So far some of the features of the new park that have been discussed include, a new small-scale waterway that would mimic the James River and provide an area for toy boat racing, a game area, new seating, new lighting and a café. Another idea is that with new seating, the park will be able to host outdoor concerts and summer movie nights.

Since the park is located in the center of VCU’s campus, students will be one of the groups the project will affect the most. Freshman Molly Rhodes, who currently lives in Johnson Hall across from the park, believes the construction will be a welcome change.

“I think that it’s cool that they’re going to do all of that,” said Rhodes. “I think that all additions to Monroe Park will be well received by VCU students. And I think it will encourage students to spend more time in the park and it’ll bring more life to the park.”

While all of the possible components of the park sound appealing to Rhodes, she said her personal favorite is the James River waterway.

“It will be a good place where families, students and people who live in Richmond can go; kind of like a nice common area for the city of Richmond,” Rhodes said.

For some the renovations seem necessary, as the park has become a bit of an eyesore.

“Whenever I walk past it, you can see the pavement is aged, it seems long overdue because of the way it looks,” said VCU sophomore Adetola Eko.

He thinks the outdoor café and possibility of outdoor concerts will be an interesting and welcome addition. Eko believes that overall the project will help tie the university and the surrounding community together even more.

“The park would be more of an attraction with people,” said Eko.  “If they had all those things there they’d get a whole bunch of people from the city it’d be a main focus for VCU and the city.”

While it is unclear how long the improvements will take to finish, the project has been in the planning stages since 2008. The city has committed about $772,000 to go toward the upgrades, according to the Richmond-Times Dispatch.

For more information about the progress of the revitalization, visit the Monroe Park Advisory Council’s website at www.monroepark.com.