Author Archive for Waldo Jaquith

Page 286 of 744

Library of Congress’ American Memory Project

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 9, 2008 in In Brief. Closed

The LoC’s collection of drawings and histories for historic buildings in Charlottesville.  #

Advance Mills Bridge Planned (For Real)

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 9, 2008 in Transportation. 3 Comments

VDOT has a bridge planned for Advance Mills, and this time they mean it. Brandon Shulleetta writes in the Progress that VDOT is proposing a $3M steel truss bridge to replace the existing bridge, which has been shut down for over a year because of its aged condition. VDOT had planned to build a bridge, cancelled their plans, planned to build a temporary one followed by a permanent one and then cancelled that. At this point, folks in Advance Mills just want a bridge, and don’t seem to particularly care about the details. This final (?) planned bridge is due to be finished by late next year or early 2010.

City Plans Efficiency Study

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 9, 2008 in Government. 7 Comments

The city plans to hire an outside firm to conduct an efficiency study, Rachana Dixit writes in today’s Daily Progress. Though a firm hasn’t been selected, the university’s Weldon Cooper Center seems like a clear top candidate. The five-month study is intended to measure where Charlottesville can reduce the size and cost of government. Council has budgeted $50,000 for the study, which they hope will begin September 1.

Local Photos

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 7, 2008 in In Brief. 5 Comments

Some nice pictures: Ghost signs of downtown (Via LoCoHistory) and Duncan Brown’s 1980 photos of the Downtown Mall.  #

Progress Lays Off 25, Moves Printing to Richmond

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 7, 2008 in Business and Meta News. 30 Comments

The Daily Progress will immediately shut down their printing operations in Charlottesville, having everything done at the Media General plant in Hanover County. Twenty five of the paper’s 120 employees—the entire printing crew—have been laid off. The newspaper’s aging press has required increasingly-expensive repairs, and the paper has been wondering what they’d do when the thing finally gave out for good. Another important factor in this decision must have been Media General’s demand that papers increase their profit margins; getting rid of a fifth of the staff and consolidating printing operations will go a long way towards doing that.

I have to wonder how much longer they’ll remain in their facility on Rio Road. The paper was long produced in the old Daily Progress building on Market Street (one block west of NBC 29), but they had to move to their current location in order to accommodate their then-new printing press. With the thinning of the once-crowded newsroom, they’ve now got 29,000 square feet, a whole lot more building than they have any use for. Valued at $4M, how long until Media General sells off their property for a one-time cash infusion and puts their remaining employees in rented space in an office park a ways out of town?