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Future of Downtown Hotels Closer to Conclusion

Hotels
The Richmond (left) and Murphy (right) Hotels as they appeared in the early 20th century (photo from VCU Cabell Library Special Collections Postcards)

HOTEL ISSUE SYNOPSIS:

For more than a year, A.C.O.R.N. has been diligently working toward saving the Eighth and Ninth Street Office Buildings, formerly the city's landmark Murphy and Richmond Hotels. Funding to replace the Murphy Hotel was approved by the General Assembly in January 2005. There had also been serious discussion about the State redeveloping the entire block bounded by 8th & 9th, Broad & Grace Streets. A.C.O.R.N. knew that not only was the Murphy Hotel was imminently endangered, but also that the Richmond Hotel would be at risk as part of a redevelopment of the entire block. A.C.O.R.N. contacted the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, and local preservation groups and coordinated efforts to insist that an independent feasibility study be part of the process of deciding the future of these buildings. After many meetings and lobbying by A.C.O.R.N. and other interested parties, language was included in a Budget Amendment to the original bill submitted that would allow the Departments of General Services and Historic Resources to solicit competitive proposals to prepare an assessment and feasibility report for the development of the state-owned properties bounded by 8th, 9th, Grace and Broad streets. Hillier Architecture was selected to prepare the feasibility study. The second week in July 2005, this report was released giving highest marks to the two of the ten options presented that favor renovation and adaptive reuse of these two landmark buildings. Click here to review the findings of feasibility study. Additionally, there are other related documents that report and review the 8th & 9th Street Office Buildings as well as the entire block. Click here for a link to all documents on the 8th & 9th Street Office Buildings.

A.C.O.R.N. feels removal of these buildings would erode the historic character of downtown Richmond beyond recognition - leaving it to resemble a generic assembly of nondescript buildings that have no sense of identity or place - "Anyburg". Thus, after exhaustive negotiations with numerous state officials, VCU and the Museum of the Confederacy, A.C.O.R.N. determined there was no alternative but to prepare a lawsuit hoping to spark a constructive dialogue to fix a broken review process of state-owned historic buildings. Currently, public input into the review process is marginal - if not absent - and what does occur is conducted largely behind closed doors. A.C.O.R.N. has made progress and will continue to advocate to retain these historic resources that are so critical to Richmond's identity. Despite A.C.O.R.N.'s advocacy efforts over the past two years, there is still no process for the protection of state-owned historic buildings. The Nursing School and Murphy Hotel are gone and the future of the remaining historic structures is uncertain.

ISSUE UPDATES:

9/20/06: Style Weekly: "Wilder Losing Grip on Murphy Hotel" by Scott Bass

9/15/06: RTD: "Architects chosen for city projects" by Will Jones

5/15/06: Patrick McSweeny - lawyer with McSweeny and Crump, questions funding for Capital Square projects. Read "Another Grandiose Plan"

4/9/06: Selden Richardson, A.C.O.R.N.'s Board President and Architectural Historian, appeals to Governor Kaine in an RTD Commentary.
Click here to read the full text

3/1/06: Richmond Mayor Doug Wilder attends an A.C.O.R.N. Press Conference and states that the Murphy Hotel must be saved. Further he states he has been discussing the issue of creating a downtown Urban Law Center with Governor Tim Kaine. Click here for Press Conference details. Click here to read the March 2nd RTD article. Click here to read what City Hall says.

2/22/06: The Senate has approved 16.8 million in the General Fund calling in costs related to replacing the Murphy Hotel by August 30, 2006. Click here to read the whole text of SB-30.

1/25/06: A.C.O.R.N. hosts a seminar: Stop or Go: Raising the Bar for Parking Deck Design where the New Street parking deck (shown here) was hailed as the highest standard in parking deck design by local historic preservation architect Doug Harnsberger. The New Street deck combines street level retail along with an architectural facade that masterfully blends with its historic surroundings. This deck won the 2002 Palladio Award for New Construction and Design for Commercial and Civic Architecture. Click Here for additional photos of this amazing addition to downtown Staunton.

1/16/06: Renovation of the Murphy Hotel into a law school has been resurrected as part of Mayor Doug Wilder's vision for a five-year renaissance of Richmond. January 10, 2006, Richmond Times~Dispatch
Wilder offers five-year plan for City of Richmond by David Ress

While no decision has been made, the fact that the City and the State are discussing this possibility is a step in the right direction. The renovation of the Murphy Hotel is proposed to be a joint venture between the University of Richmond and VCU. Plans call for classrooms as well as some student housing on the upper levels of the landmark building.

11/30/05: A.C.O.R.N. realizes there is an absence of an open process that decides the fate of Richmond landmark buildings that are owned by the State. Not only are the Murphy and Richmond Hotels in jeopardy, but the Museum of the Confederacy contemplates moving the White House of the Confederacy and VCU plans to demolish Cabaniss Hall, West Hospital and the A.D.Williams Clinic - all State-owned landmarks on the MCV Campus. Since there seems to be no alternative to his lack of open process, A.C.O.R.N. decides to prepare a lawsuit to persuade Governor Warner, members of the General Assembly, VCU and the Museum of the Confederacy to create a process that addresses the needs of the state while exploring viable alternatives to demolishing Richmond landmark buildings. A.C.O.R.N.'s lawsuit threat sparks letters of support in Style Weekly. Click here to read the letters.

9/21/05: A.C.O.R.N. has learned that the General Assembly Appropriations Committee members are leaning heavily in favor of demolishing both the Murphy and Richmond Hotels. The finding of the feasibility study (for these buildings) appear to be of no interest to them, nor are the historic / architectural merits of the buildings. Their primary concern is for convenient parking on that site It is important that we contact Committee members know that these buildings matter, that there are alternative sites for nearby parking, and that developers are lined up - like the University of Richmond - with adaptive reuse proposals for both hotels, which could become significant revenue-producers for the City of Richmond. Remember, the State of Virginia pays NO real estate taxes on the property they own in our city. Below is a list of e-mail addresses for the Governor, Mayor and members of the Appropriations Committee who will play a part in deciding the fate of these landmarks. Please take a moment to sent a message of support in favor of saving both of these hotels.

8/18/05: The University of Richmond is looking at putting a satellite location for their law school that would be close to the new Federal Courts Building and the State Capitol. Read these articles:
August 18, 2005, Richmond Times~Dispatch Satellite campus seen for UR - UR law students could live downtown and live near courts, dean says by Gary Robertson
August 17, 2005, Style Weekly UR Plans Downtown Legal Campus by Scott Bass

What building would be better located than the Endangered Murphy Hotel? To the west, just across 8th Street, the new Federal Courts Building is under construction and one block to the east is Capitol Square. While the Murphy Hotel may be a perfect location for the UR satellite law school, getting the State to declare the building surplus property so that it can be sold to a private developer is the sticking point. Hillier Architecture recently gave the highest marks in favor of renovation of both the Murphy and Richmond Hotels.

IF YOU CARE ABOUT THESE SIGNIFICANT BUILDINGS THAT ARE AN INTEGRAL PART TO DOWNTOWN RICHMOND'S HISTORY AND IDENTITY, PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO SEND A MESSAGE IN SUPPORT OF SAVING THESE TWO IMPORTANT HOTELS. ADAPTIVE RE-USE OF BOTH BUILDINGS BY PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPERS WILL NOT ONLY SAVE THESE HISTORIC BUILDINGS BUT WILL BRING MUCH NEEDED REAL ESTATE TAX REVENUE TO THE CITY OF RICHMOND. THE UR LAW SCHOOL IS JUST ONE OF MANY POSSIBILITIES THAT CAN BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO THE MURPHY HOTEL. THERE ARE MANY DEVELOPERS WAITING FOR THE STATE OF VIRGINIA TO DECLARE BOTH THE MURPHY AND RICHMOND HOTELS SURPLUS SO DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS CAN BE SUBMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION. CONTACTING THE GOVERNOR, MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE WILL SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE THAT CITIZENS OF RICHMOND CARE ABOUT THEIR CITY'S FUTURE AND WANT THESE BUILDINGS SAVED. YOUR VOICE CAN BE HEARD - CONTACT THE GOVERNOR, THE MAYOR AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE.

GOVERNOR KAINE HAS THE AUTHORITY TO STOP THE DEMOLITION OF THE MURPHY HOTEL AND CREATE A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE CITY OF RICHMOND FOR PROTECTION AND PROPER CARE OF ALL STATE-OWNED HISTORIC LANDMARKS. CONTACT TIM KAINE AND ENCOURAGE HIM TO DO THE RIGHT THING.

Governor Tim Kaine, E-mail: Contact the Governor
Governor Tim Kaine, Phone: 786-2211
Mayor Doug Wilder, Email: Contact the Mayor
Mayor Doug Wilder, Phone: 646-7970

CONTACT VIRGINIA HOUSE AND SENATE MEMBERS AND TELL THEM TO SAVE THE MURPY HOTEL!

Virginia House Of Delegates: Click Here for their E-mail addresses
Virginia Senate: Click here for their E-mail addresses

ARCHIVED ARTICLES ON THE MURPHY & RICHMOND HOTELS

March 2, 2006, Richmond Times~Dispatch
Preservationists rally around building by David Ress

March 1, 2006, Style Weekly Over Protests, Historic Hotel Faces Demolition
by Brandon Walters & Katie Gantt

January 10, 2006, Richmond Times~Dispatch
Wilder offers five-year plan for City of Richmond by David Ress

November 30, 2005, Style Weekly A.C.O.R.N. Threatens VCU, State with Lawsuit
by Scott Bass

August 18, 2005, Richmond Times~Dispatch Satellite campus seen for UR - UR law students could live downtown and live near courts, dean says by Gary Robertson

August 17, 2005, Style Weekly UR Plans Downtown Legal Campus by Scott Bass

July 14, 2005, Richmond Times~Dispatch Study lists options for old hotels - Acting now to preserve buildings near capitol is vital, consultant says by David Ress

July 14, 2005, Richmond.com Still up in the air - An independent study ranked 10 possible futures for the Eighth and Ninth Street Office Buildings by Mike Ward

March 16, 2005, Style Weekly Mrs Atkinson's Place, The woman behind the success of the Hotel Richmond by Scott Bass

February 2, 2005, Richmond Times~Dispatch Preservationists plan rally - They're scheduled to meet with a Warner aide Friday in hopes of saving two buildings
by Will Jones

Read "Capitol Schlock" by Patrick McSweeny in the January 31st edition of Bacon's Rebellion, a regular Op Ed column of the on-line publication, Virginia's New Economy. Here McSweeny discusses the deteriorating architectural standards of the built environment around the state capitol and a need for public input into the process regarding the disposition of buildings
owned by the taxpayers of Virginia.

READ FURTHER FOR A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MURPHY AND RICHMOND HOTELS

The design of the Murphy Hotel building is the creative work of John Kevan Peebles, architect for the additions to the State Capitol Building. According to architectural historian Robert Winthrop, "The classical ornamentation and detail is often elegant, but the Broad Street front suggests that the architect was treating the facade as an abstract composition of lights and darks, foretelling modern compositional preferences". For almost 20 years, the commonwealth of Virginia has ignored maintenance of the elaborate terra-cotta ornamentation and has been forced to construct a canopy to prevent pieces of it from falling onto pedestrians. The Commonwealth of Virginia must decide in the 2006 session of the General Assembly if this landmark building will be renovated for office use or privately developed for adaptive reuse. Please contact your legislator to insist that the state save this excellent and finite example of high-rise, early 20th century hotel architecture. First, contact the Governor (786-2211) and your General Assembly representatives (House of Delegates: 698-1500; Senate: 698-7410)
in favor of renovation.

Built on a site used for hostelries since the mid-19th century, he Richmond Hotel was constructed in 1904. The Richmond Hotel was conceived and developed by Adeline Detroit Wood Atkinson. Click here to read the amazing story about this remarkable Richmonder in this issue of Style Weekly. Carrere & Hastings, one of the most distinguished architectural firms of the period, designed the Richmond Hotel as well as the New York Public Library; the Jefferson Hotel and the Commonwealth Club in Richmond; the William K. Vanderbilt estate at Great Neck, Long Island; and the House and Senate office buildings in Washington, D.C. The Richmond Hotel's lobby is among the most beautiful rooms in Richmond and is dominated by a scaled-down version on the staircase at the Jefferson Hotel. The lobby skylight is one if Richmond's largest and most impressive works of stained glass. The Commonwealth of Virginia must decide in the 2006 session of the General Assembly if this landmark building will be renovated for office use or privately developed for adaptive reuse. Please contact your legislator to insist that the state save this excellent and finite example of high-rise, early 20th century hotel architecture. First, contact the Governor (786-2211) and your General Assembly representatives (House of Delegates: 698-1500; Senate: 698-7410)
in favor of renovation.

hotel
Ninth Street Office Building (former Richmond Hotel)

hotel
Ninth Street Between Broad and Grace Streets

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OF INTEREST ON THE TOPIC OF THE RICHMOND & MURPHY HOTELS

Read "Preservationists plan rally" by Will Jones in the 2-2-05 edition of the Richmond Times Dispatch that will give you an idea of the current status of what is being done to save the Endangered buildings listed above.