Richmond's Secret Castle - The Pumphouse - Redux*

Tucked away behind the Carillon and Dogwood Dell is one of Richmond's secret gems. J Rockers and river rats are well familiar with it, but it is little known among the Richmond diaspora. So if you've been there and done that, just come along for the ride. If this is new to you then welcome to hidden Richmond.



Complete with it's own moat

This is not going to be a history lesson, but we could all benefit from some basic facts. Seeing no need to rewrite history, I'll let Discover Richmond do some of the heavy lifting.

The Byrd Park Pumphouse was built in 1882 and provided drinking water for the city for more than 40 years.

As the James divides to pass Williams Island in Richmond, a small intake gate on the north shore feeds water into a narrow concrete channel. It empties river water into settling basins beside the river below Agecroft Hall. After dropping its load of silt in the slow waters of the settling basins, the water is filtered, cleaned and treated before passing to the pumping station at the foot of Pumphouse Drive.

In 1881, a gray granite Victorian Gothic Pump House was constructed beside George Washington's James River and Kanawha Canal. From there, water was mechanically pumped up to the 26-foot-deep reservoir in New Reservoir Park (renamed Byrd Park in 1906.)

Today, the old Pump House, once home to open-air dances on the upper level, stands patiently waiting for more loving care.

Loving care has come at last to the pumphouse. For several years now JROC volunteers and others have been working to restore this gem to it's former glory. It's a labor of love that has shown slow but steady progress. I spent one exhausting day there hauling water from the canal and scrubbing out a decades worth of dust and cobwebs. You'd think a pumphouse would have running water.

Today, the old Pump House, once home to open-air dances on the upper level, stands patiently waiting for more loving care.

Discover Richmond...

In the heyday of the Pump House, debutantes dressed in Victorian-era hoop skirts glided with their dates on the pine dance floor of an elegant open-air ballroom overlooking the gentle rapids of the James River.

Guests arrived at the hall by waterway, boarding a boat at Seventh and Canal streets from where mules would tow them up one of the nation's oldest canals. Later, wealthy residents of the Fan District rode horse-drawn carriages along the newly built roads in Byrd Park. They called it the Pump House, although it did much more than generate drinking water for the people of Richmond.

After the turn of the century, as the city expanded westward, the regard for which Richmonders held the Pump House fell, as did the social status of its guests.

But inside, volunteers and James River Parks Manager Ralph R. White are restoring the dance floor and wood-paneled walls and stabilizing the roof.

It was built in 1882 by the city's engineer, Col. Wilfred E. Cutshaw, who also oversaw construction of Old City Hall and designed Byrd Park. Cutshaw intentionally designed the granite structure to serve as a pumping station as well as a fancy dance hall, sparking much criticism.

But as soon as the Pump House opened, it served as a grand music hall where Richmond's wealthy gathered on Saturday nights. Belles strutted their stuff not only on the dance floor but also on a high catwalk that overlooked the first-floor pumping machinery.

Today the Pumphouse a mix of local flavor and history, part former grandeur and part haunted house. It's seen a lot in it's long history and if walls could talk, the stories it could tell. Here's to future stories. You can help make it happen. Join JROC, Friends of The James River Park or just come out and visit with you family and friends. Tell others about this great Richmond treasure.



Larger slideshow on Picasa

Directions:

Take your last right before going south over the Nickel Bridge.
Take your first left going north.

All photos are original and may be freely shared. Proper attribution and referrals to this site are appreciated.

Links:
James River Park System
Historic Richmond
James River Outdoor Coalition
Discover Richmond

*First published April 10, 2009.

Monroe Park and the Politics of Homelessness

Monroe Park is scheduled for a long overdue remake. Today's RTD reports $6.2 million is slated to implement a master plan that has been years in the making. The plan itself is a grand scheme,almost a pipe dream, but grand nevertheless. I have long been an advocate for what should be the jewel of the Richmond Park system. There has always been a huge stumbling block to park's renewal and that is the large population of homeless and its use by homeless advocates, service providers and churches that use it as a staging ground for their mostly charitable efforts. The result is the park has gained a reputation as unsafe, unpleasant and is largely underused. It is almost an article of faith in modern society that you don't bash the homeless, as least not publicly. Privately you will hear a lot, usually spoken to trusted friends. Nobody wants to be called out as a "hater" or a selfish ingrate. The other end of the spectrum is to publicly berate the homeless as addicts, insane, shiftless abusers of social charity. These people don't care what you think of them, but they mostly operate in anonymity in electronic forums. Either way it is a minefield and near impossible to discuss rationally, but it is central to the renewal of the park.

The first step is to separate the two issues. Monroe Park is a precious resource that has long fallen into disuse. It is also the centerpiece of the VCU campus that takes its name. It is the front yard to other Richmond institutions, including the Landmark Theater, the Sacred Heart Cathedral and Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and it should be the symbol of a new Richmond, attracting families, children, concert goers and visitors to stroll and enjoy Richmond's most historic park. Now it exists most as a symbol civic dysfunction. Ten's on thousands drive by on Belvidere, Franklin and Main Streets and barely give the park a glance, those that do are happy to drive on to their own far safer, but infinitely less interesting parks.

So now the push is on for renewal. I hope we find the money and the will to implement this plan. We will all be rewarded if they can do so. It will take creative solutions to homelessness and expect plenty of push back from the homeless lobby and those who get meaning from helping and serving them. I'm quite sure the solution will not be satisfactory to all, but hopefully it will be a more practical, constructive one than the current arrangement.

Related Links.

• Monroe Park Master Plan
  
• Monroe Park - Richmond Virginia HomePage
  
• Monroe Park on Wikimapia The comments here are revealing.
  
• Monroe Park on Wikipedia
  
• Today's RTD article
  
• Feeding Frenzy My three year old Back Page editorial in Style