With this, the 13th issue of the year, we’re a quarter of the way through our highly selective tour through the past 20 years of local news and arts in C-VILLE. And we cannot deny a trend: Certain names keep coming up, often associated with grand ideas that sometimes…fizzle later. Need an example? Here’s one: Lee Danielson floating the notion 10 years ago of building some kind of striking, er, landmark downtown. Not that gotcha journalism, as they say in the GOP, defines our mission here. We can get flowery and soft, too. But whether it’s a new wrinkle on a familiar tale or a market-driven adjustment ($18 New York strip steak? Hello?), stay tuned. All year long we will continue to look back at the accumulated pluck and provocations that will power this free and freethinking institution into the next 20 years.
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Getting covered
It was all pun and games back on March 19, 1991, when the C-Ville Review, then a biweekly, featured a fetching lass, an umbrella and some flora on the cover. And what did the spring showers photo connect to inside? You guessed it: Zippo! Indeed, this note graced the bottom of the Contents page for that issue: “Of course there is nothing in this magazine about spring or rain. But doesn’t Alexandra Scott look wonderful tiptoeing through the tulips!” Aah, those were the days when irreverence and low expectations formed a perfect union.
Paging through the archives
“Don’t go rushing out to buy stock just yet. Right now it’s just an idea—but it’s cooking.
“Lee Danielson (of the Ice Park and Regal Cinema fame) is floating the concept of a giant domed stadium which would be located Downtown, right across from the Omni—on land that is now a sea of asphalt and a bargain grocery store.
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“By becoming the number one tenant, the University of Virginia could replace U-Hall (the smallest basketball arena in the ACC) without investing as many millions or enduring all the headaches of upkeep. The space could also be used for graduations, maybe the circus, concerts, or any number of events. Sources tell us Danielson is in conversation now with potential investors.
“This won’t be our last word on Danielson’s Dome—we’re quite sure we will revisit the idea in these pages. For now, we have a quick two cents.
“Yes, we’re sorta warm to the idea. In fact, ift could be pretty cool to have a major-events enclosed stadium within walking distance of the Mall. It deserves a hearing for sure.
“Problem: How to reconcile our attraction to a Downtown arena with our opposition to the Meadowcreek Parkway. If the Dome gains a following, you know folks will start crying for expressway access to Downtown—a.k.a. the Parkway. And then there’s the parking—ugh. That’s a hurdle and a half.
“Besides those issues, we’d like to suggest that Danielson’s team of Dome planners involve the Chamber of Commerce and see if the project might be combined with convention center space. And we also think it would be a terrific idea to combine the facility with a local history museum—complete with a Lewis and Clark (and Sacagawea and York) exhibit.
“Just some ideas. We’ll talk later.”
“The Skinny,” March 30, 1999