Guest Commentary

(Guest Commentary) Nowhere are VCU’s efforts at beautification and campus-shaping more successful than in the five contiguous blocks of West Grace Street that run from Belvidere eastward to Ryland Street.

The massive, multi-use Otis structure was built out to its respective property lines and “claims” its space like few other buildings in the vicinity.

An open-minded rethinking of how the 12,500-seat Coliseum might be renovated, promoted, managed and financed could make the 53-year-old, architecturally worthy landmark a sparkling downtown centerpiece.

This past year many leading lights were extinguished. In this second of two parts, columnist Eddie Slipek salutes individuals who died from July through December and whose bright spirits contributed to the public good.

In this first of two parts, we salute individuals who died from January through June. Each toiled and excelled in different ways to make our community a richer, more responsive and stronger place.

Edwin Slipek ties together his thoughts on the Virginia Women’s Monument, his personal experience with suffragist Adele Goodman Clark, and Richmonder Emily Skinner’s Broadway role in “Suffs.”

“The fact is, we’re selling ourselves short. While we have incredible hotel rooms near the GRCC, the feedback we commonly hear is that organizers also want an option where all guests can stay in one property.”

Let’s get cracking on the Clay Street connector between the convention center and Court End with its architectural and historic treasures from neoclassical to art deco.

(Guest Commentary) If a recent weekday visit to the exhibition and a “wind-shield” survey of attendance are indicative, the word is out on a visually jaw-dropping, intellectually stimulating and surprisingly moving experience.

Last month, as a back-handed slap to Black History Month no less, Virginia Union announced plans to demolish the abandoned, but sturdy Richmond Community Hospital to open up a site for 130 housing units.