Botanical garden plans move forward
City Council unanimously approved the lease of city park land to the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont at Monday’s meeting, a significant step forward in the decade-long endeavor to establish a garden in McIntire Park.
Formerly called the McIntire Botanical Garden, the garden’s name was changed by the board of directors because the parcel of land on which the garden sits was not donated by Paul McIntire, but rather was bought by the city and added to the park in 1972.
The Botanical Garden of the Piedmont was designed by the international, woman-owned landscape architecture and urban design firm, Mikyoung Kim Design, in partnership with Charlottesville’s Waterstreet Studio. “Much more than just a simple garden,” the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont will feature 13 spaces for recreation and learning, including a Visitors and Education Center with an amphitheater, a redbud grove, and waterfall and stream gardens.
The proposed term of the lease is 40 years, and the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont will be allowed a five-year period to start construction of the garden, with an additional three years to complete it.
At the meeting, several commenters spoke in favor of approving the lease. Now that the land lease agreement has been secured, the organization in charge of the garden can begin fundraising for the garden’s construction, said Executive Director Jill Trischman-Marks.
Reconfiguration moves ahead
Also at Monday’s meeting, council voted to put $75 million into the city’s capital budget to renovate and reconfigure Buford Middle and Walker Upper Elementary schools. The vote is a major step forward in the years-long process. Last month, VMDO Architects, which has been tasked with leading the schools’ redesign, released three possible conceptual plans for how the rehabbed schools might look (left)..”
I am the only Black woman in the history of Virginia to ever make it on the ballot. But I can’t have my voice heard?
Liberation Party candidate Princess Blanding, after governor’s race debate organizers didn’t invite her to participate
alongside Youngkin and McAuliffe
In brief
Mailing it in no longer
Last weekend, the United States Postal Service issued an employee “surge” to Charlottesville, sending postal workers from around the state to the area to help clear the backlog of mail that’s plagued us in recent months. Senator Mark Warner informed Charlottesville and Albemarle County residents via email that additional mail carriers would be passing through mail routes multiple times over the weekend, including on Sunday, to resolve the issue. Warner says he’ll come back to Charlottesville soon to check on things.
McAuliffe and Youngkin go at it again
The second and final gubernatorial debate between Republican Glenn Youngkin and Democrat Terry McAuliffe was held last week. Candidates were pushed by moderator Chuck Todd on vaccines and education, and the two clashed on abortion, with Youngkin confirming that he supports a “pain-threshold bill,” which typically bans abortions after 20 weeks, and calling his opponent “the most extreme abortion candidate in the country,” while McAuliffe asserted himself as a “brick wall to protect women’s rights.” Youngkin maintained his position that vaccines should not be mandated, while McAuliffe called the position “disqualifying.” Early voting is now open.
You choose: shot or quit
“Several hundred” Virginia health care workers have resigned rather than get vaccinated, The Washington Post reports. That represents a tiny percentage of health care workers in the state: Sentara, which operates 13 facilities around the state including one in Charlottesville, says just 13 of its 28,000 employees have resigned over the coming vaccine requirement. UVA has given its employees until November 1 to get the shot, or they’ll be heading out the door.