Friends of Chimborazo Playground

Richmond, VA Needs a Public Skatepark

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:40:56 +0000

Help us raise money to build a public skatepark! If you are interested in helping us with fundraising or volunteering, please contact us.

10 Things to Make a Skatepark Great

admin — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:21:56 +0000

Many local skateboarders are interested in designing skate features at Chimborazo Playground. Andrew Cauthen, a local skateboarder, writes:

There are no places to go [skateboarding] in Richmond whatsoever…We had a place over at the old Azalea Mall. It was named “Hippoland” and became a safe haven for kids of all ages to have good clean fun where prostitution, drugs, and short-sighted capitalism once happened. Just some things that people brought or friends made out of concrete on an abandoned bowling alley foundation. It had been really nice for a few years and was developing nicely. Even though it was completely “illegal”, nobody bothered us. I think it should be illegal for property owners to sit on property for so long without sharing it with the community. We had contests, fundraisers, demos from skateboarders all across the country… We could help raise money and build everything [at Chimborazo Playground]. Nothing fancy. Just a place to go. Skateboarders, rollerbladers, scooters, etc could play on it too and everything would be fairly small, so regulations wouldn’t be needed… This would greatly improve the community …and set a easily attainable standard for other places.

Skateparks keep kids off the streets and give them safe places to practice their sport.
1. Skateboarding is a safe sport.
2. It’s safest when done in a facility built for skateboarding.

A skateboarding feature is in the Department of Parks, Recreation & Facilities’ master plan for Chimborazo Playground, though what features it will contain have yet to be decided. If you’re interested in providing input into the skateboarding area and/or helping raise funds, come out to next month’s meeting (Monday, Feb 8, 7pm at the East District Center).

http://www.skatepark.org/2009-skatepark-presentation.html
http://skateboarding.transworld.net/2008/07/30/maloof-money-cup-final-shesh-videos/
http://www.ci.kettering.oh.us/newweb/departments/recreation/rec_fac_skate.php
http://www.skateplaza.org/
http://www.durhamcentralpark.org/park-info/skate-park/
http://www.thedurhamnews.com/news/story/200007.html

Community Garden Fundraiser

admin — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:58:27 +0000

If you eat at any of the Capital Ale Houses on any Thursday in January between 5pm and 10pm, and take one of these (attached) fliers with you, they will donate 25% of your food bill to Tricycle Gardens!

We planted a new community garden in Church Hill last fall, in the Chimborazo Playground park between 29th and 30th south of Broad St. We have a waiting list for new garden plots and would like to build 8 more, plus put an attractive wooden fence around the garden, some seating/table, and get some tools and soil amendments for the shed we will be building this winter (with donated help from carpenter Joshua Cooley and friends, and a donation from the Church Hill Association for materials, as well as recycled cans for siding and roofing shingles collected and cleaned for us from the Community Kitchen).

Capital Ale House has locations in Innsbrook, downtown, and Midlothian. Each location has over 100 beers available, including dozens on tap on a rotating menu. Unfortunately, proceeds from the beer sales aren’t included in the donation to us, but beer goes great with a burger, steak, pasta, or seafood dinner! Hope you can make it and help us out while enjoying a meal out!
Here is a link to their website where you can also access the flyer, as well as a menu and locations.
http://www.capitalalehouse.com/news/communitychest.php

**Important: DON’T FORGET the flyer! They will only do it if you have a flyer with you (one per group).**

Feel free to pass this email on to anyone you think may be interested.
Thanks, and hope to see you there!!!
Jennifer

Grand Opening

admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:26:47 +0000

Kids from all over the neighborhood tried out the new slides, monkeybars, swings, digger, playhouse and more at the Grand Opening of the new playground. Thanks to KaBoom!, Home Depot, the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation & Facilities, the Richmond Recreation & Parks Foundation, Tricycle Gardens, the Shockoe Bottom Association, and the many local businesses and volunteers who made the new playground and community gardens possible.

Photos by Heather Pettus

300 Volunteers Build New Playground and Gardens

admin — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:47:43 +0000

About 300 volunteers built a new playground and a community garden today. By 2pm, volunteers and workers from Home Depot, KaBOOM! and the Church Hill community built a new playground, 16 garden plots, three compost bins, an arbor, a community bulletin board, blackboards, and a kids’ teepee, and installed new garden beds.

Chimbo Playground

Also there today helping was Joe Gibbs Racing, the Richmond Police Department, the Department of Parks, Recreation & Facilities, the Richmond Fire Department, the Richmond Recreation & Parks Foundation, the Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association, the Church Hill Association, Asbury United Methodist Church and many others.

Special thanks to the Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association and all the restaurants that pitched in to feed us excellent food. The next time you head out for a meal, a cup of coffee or a beer, please patronize these generous, local businesses who give back to our community. Plus, thank you to so many others that donated their time and money.

Farm Fresh Markets at Tobacco Row
Ukrop’s
Poe’s Pub
Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 10 of Richmond
Alpine Bagels
Country Style Donuts
Police Athletic League
Sette Pizza
CVS Pharmacy
Green Duck Compatible and Biodegradable Goods
Captain Buzzy’s Café
Globehopper Café
Weiman’s Bakery
The Hill Café
Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association
White House Catering
Halligan Bar and Grill
River City Diner
Bottoms Up Pizza
Panera Bread
Crossroads Coffee and Ice Cream
PODS
Altria
Asbury United Methodist Church
Peter Paul Development Center
Hometown Realty
Jewels General Contruction
Leonard Lambert & Associates Law Firm
Richmond Fire Department
Rose Winston, Realtor

Kids & Posters

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:05:55 +0000

On Tuesday, kids met at the Peter Paul Development Center and covered their hands, feet, paintbrushes, canvases and myriad spots on the floor with every color imaginable. They created some beautiful “thank you cards” to hang on Build Day. A huge thanks to Joan and Mercedes, who organized the event, purchased the materials, mapped out the designs, and made it lots of fun for the children.

August Community Meeting

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:50:17 +0000

If you’ve always wanted to volunteer and make our neighborhood a better place, here’s an easy way to do it. We need 75 volunteers from Church Hill to help build the children’s new playground at Chimborazo Park on Thursday, Sept. 10. You don’t have to be handy with a hammer to help. Learn about volunteer opportunities, playground design and how you can help at the next Friends of Chimborazo Playground Community meeting:

Monday, August 10, 7pm
East District Center
701 N. 25th Street

Agenda:

Call for neighborhood volunteers – need 75 volunteers from Church Hill, including build captains, to make help build the new playground.
KaBoom! playground design

Bat Houses Installed

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:35:12 +0000

Two new bat houses were installed at Chimborazo Park yesterday. Bats are one of nature’s most efficient and eco-friendly methods of keeping mosquito populations under control. Just one bat can eat more than 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour. Mosquitoes breed in the neighboring ravine, where there is a lot of standing water. Hopefully, the new residents will help control the pests naturally, and eliminate the need for harsh chemical repellants. The bat houses are made possible by a generous grant from the Church Hill Association.

Kids Design New Playground

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:20:05 +0000

On July 16, kids and adults from all over the community gathered at Asbury United Methodist Church for “Design Day.” Armed with crayons, 21 kids drew pictures of their “dream” playgrounds, which included slides, monkey bars, jungle gyms, even hair salons and ice cream shops! 24 adults brought food and started the planning work. It was a major stepping stone on the way to transforming our playground and building bridges in our community.
Friends of Chimborazo Playground was recently awarded a grant to build a new play space and community gardens by KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit dedicated to empowering communities to build playgrounds. The project will be largely funded by the Home Depot and supported by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities.

Thanks to everyone, especially the Reverend Heckstall, of Asbury United Methodist Church, for making the evening possible.

Photos courtesy of Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation & Community Facilities

Design Day – This Thursday

admin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:04:55 +0000

Join us this Thursday, July 16 for the KaBoom! Design Day. It’s a chance for kids and adults to collaborate and design the playground and potential side projects.

Asbury United Methodist Church
324 N 29th St (corner of 29th & E. Marshall)
4pm – Kids design playground
5pm – Dinner!
5:30pm – Adults work with KaBoom project team to turn kids designs into reality.

Dinner is potluck, so bring a dish if you’re able. If you’re interested in the project, but not into design per se, you can still help out with the kids, coordinating dinner, etc.

Send an email if you’re interested in attending, or contact us for more information: shawn@imaginechimbo.org.