In an effort to recoup some public money in the Downtown Mall Restoration project and reduce the final cost of the project, the City of Charlottesville will sell to the public original mall bricks from the 33 year old Downtown Mall while supplies last. City officials realizes a larger demand once the project began in January and have sought to find ways to offer bricks to buyers that would not be cost-prohibitive or challenge the administrative constraints of the City. The original plan was to sell only 8,000 cleaned bricks but the unexpected demand will result in more bricks being reused rather than recycled. The City estimates that there are around 360,000 bricks on the nationally-acclaimed Downtown urban park and the goal is to have no removed bricks go unused and enter a landfill. The City plans to offer several opportunities to soon to be builders and souvenir recipients:
* Special souvenir bricks will be sold at the City’s monthly surplus property sale beginning next month on March 6th at the City Warehouse on 4th Street (WHO) for $5.00/brick (limit of 5 per customer). The WHO is open the 1st Friday of each month from Noon – 3:00 p.m. In addition pallets of 200 cleaned bricks will be sold at a reduced price at this auction.
* An online auction of un-cleaned bricks to the highest bidder through GovDeals.com and available at the Transit Center on Avon Street at future dates to be determined, and
* Sealed bid to the highest bidder (see Purchasing Department for specifics).
Bricks not sold will be ground to be used at trails throughout the city with the largest commitment of bed material for the future Route 250 trail near McIntire Park. For more information on the program, buyers can call Shannon Morris at 434-970-3865. For more information on City purchasing: www.charlottesville.org/purchasing. For an update on the restoration effort, visit www.mydowntownmall.com.
Ever wonder what the Charlottesville downtown mall looked like back in the day or how it was created? Did you know it used to have a drivable street running through it? I’ve discovered a sweet video for your viewing pleasure:
UNCUS reports that only 2 of the 7 contracts for the Downtown Mall Renovation had been given to local firms. I prefer shopping at local businesses and supporting local food, but the “local is better than anything else” mentality in the article strikes me as sensationalist and naive.
To be fair, there is probably some difference (let’s say local people do it for 10% more ) where it makes sense to favor local work. Take this passage from the article by Dave McNair:
As Jennifer Luchard, the city’s Procurement & Risk Management Services Manager, explains, “A preference for local products and firms in the case of a tie bid is allowed. Otherwise, there isn’t enabling legislation which allows a local preference.”
The city must also answer to tax payers. »Read More
The brick building madness has begun. Approximately $7.5M is about to be spent making the downtown mall even prettier. Is that even possible? Are we really only doing this to make the casual stiletto heal wearer feel better about not falling in front of other pedestrians? Are the bricks to be set in sand or mortar? The Richmond-Times Dispatch reports:
Construction crews and equipment have converged on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall to begin a $7.5 million facelift.
The project, which is expected to be finished in about four months, will include replacing the brick walkways, adding more benchs and repairing fountains.
The rebricking work, which began Sunday, is to be conducted six days a week until finished. Work will not be done on Saturdays in response to requests from local businesses.
Our birdies were spot on about Urban Outfitters leasing the old Hardware Store space. We heard this rumor back in August of last year. We love the birdies WCAV confirms it after talking with a spokesperson. There are no more details at this time.
Oh the excitement is in the air! It is almost xmas. For some of us that could mean a morning full of sweet gifts, or the longest day in the world stuck with annoying in-laws. Lets jump the gun and have some real fun this weekend:
Friday
Charlottesville Movie Fans: Twilight at 645PM on the downtown mall. While only scoring 50% on rotten tomatoes, if you have read the book and want to know what the ultra-mysterious Edward Cullen looks like in person, this is your only chance.
McCormick Observatory Open House: Come watch the stars at 7PM. If you are lucky, you can catch Santa making a practice run in his new high performance sled.
wow…I ran out of steam already. Anything else going on? Check out MUSE for all arts/music/stage/etc… happenings in cville.
[pic from *SMILING PUG* on Flickr]
We just got a big letter from a Brandon Collins (presumably) complaining about the downtown mall re-bricking. It’s a very big issue and thought it should be shared with all cVillains. What do you think? We haven’t confirmed these names, so this could be a complete hoax. The letter…
Honorable members of Charlottesville City Council and City Manager Gary O’Connell,
We concerned citizens, taxpayers, and working people of Charlottesville call on you to cancel or alter the planned re-bricking and renovation of the Downtown Mall. It is our belief that maintenance and repair, rather than complete replacement, of the mall bricks can be done with less impact on business and workers, at a lesser cost to taxpayers.
Furthermore, we call for the 7.5 million dollars made available for the re-bricking project to be diverted, along with the attentions of city council and city manager, to an effort to seriously address the cost of housing in our city.
It’s been a while since we’ve updated the site, so it’s probably better to recap local news in one fell swoop. We’ve got lots of things to talk about, from ski season, to economic hardships and death studies. Here she goes…
