The two owners of the Charlottesville Ice Park are arguing over the future of the facility. Lee Danielson wants to shut it down, telling the Progress that “the ice park should have closed down long ago. Economically, it has not worked.” But business partner Colin Rolph said that “the ice park is not going to be closed. It would be a huge loss to downtown. It’s still there, and it’s just fine, and it’s not going to be closed.” Regarding Danielson’s comments, he said that “Lee is basically not part of Charlottesville anymore.” Jack Mooney has an extensive story in today’s Progress.
cvillenews.com
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Martha Jefferson Hospital is moving. The 98-year-old hospital has been a downtown landmark on Locust since 1928, and have simply run out of space. So they’re constructing a replacement hospital of the same size (400,000 sq. ft.) at Peter Jefferson Place on Pantops Mountain, plus another 400,000 sq. ft. in additional buildings. They’ll be moving from their relatively-compact 9 acres to 84 acres that they purchased in April. The new hospital won’t be finished until 2008, at the earliest. It’s not yet known what will happen to the existing building, or what the effect will be of moving such a large business from the City to the County. The Progress has a story about this in today’s issue.
City Councilman Kevin Lynch says that the proposed downtown noise ordinance is no longer necessary. Recent tests on the Downtown Mall have shown that the problem doesn’t seem to exist any more. WINA has the story. Last time the noise ordinance was proposed, back in 1998ish, advocacy disappeared, too. That time it was because new restaurant The Jewish Mother was playing music until the wee hours of the business. JewMom went out of business, and the demand for the new law disappeared.
Four living wage activists were arrested following a march on the Downtown Mall yesterday evening. A dozen or so folks marched down the mall in early evening, waving signs and puppets, before several of them chained themselves to the Omni’s elevators. Spot Etal, Nicholas Graber-Grace, Andrew Holden and Abi Miller were arrested after police cut them loose. In an interview with the Progress, an activist with the UVa Labor Action Group was shocked with the arrests, saying “To see [Graber-Grace] taken away as a criminal has really hurt me a lot.” George Loper has the full article on his website, in addition to a press release from the four arrestees.
After an anonymous donor gave UVa $20M a month ago, UVa is now proceeding with full-on planning for the replacement for University Hall. They intend to put the 15,000-seat arena in the north parking lot, across from U-Hall. The project will cost $125M. UVa says that they intend to raise funds in a similar manner to that of the Carl Smith Stadium. I guess that means that we’ll have Littlepage Court at the Bob Young Stadium at the George Welsh Arena in the Pete Gillen Basketball Center, or something like that. The story is from the Cavalier Daily.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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