The Wrap: A $1.4 billion bid to redevelop the Coliseum area, hosting the world’s Flying Disc Championships, a bathrobe bar crawl, and more

Photo: @creativedogmedia

Good afternoon, faithful Wrap readers, you’ve almost made it through your Friday. Be weather aware if you’re out and about later this afternoon. We could see some heavy downpours and gusty winds with a line of storms expected to come through later today (which, as NBC12’s Jim Duncan pointed out on air earlier this week, is kind of redundant, isn’t it? I’ve never heard of a light downpour. But I digress).

The week in brief

With Halloween behind us, many people seem to think the holiday season is now in full swing. You can bet anything you’ll start hearing wall-to-wall Christmas music on Mix 98.1 in a week or two at most (Poor Thanksgiving). So with that in mind, a few holiday updates. But first, some awesome photos from this year’s Halloween Parade in Oregon Hill from Richard Hayes.

First, some really interesting news out of the Jasper in Carytown. It will be transformed, beginning November 23rd, into a winter wonderland called Miracle on Cary Street, part of a network of more than 80 popups nationwide that will feature creative craft cocktails, vintage holiday decor, and more. Pretty neat! Here’s the scoop.

Also, Richmond Triangle Players is getting into the spirit with their next production that opens on November 14th, “Who’s Holiday.”

Not to bury the lede here, but some of the most significant news of the week has to do with Mayor Levar Stoney’s “agreement in principle” to redevelop the Richmond Coliseum and the surrounding area – to the tune of $1.4 billion – which would make it the largest economic development project in the city’s history. It would include a new arena that would be Virginia’s largest, include affordable housing options, and a 500-room hotel, among other things. It’d all be funded by a TIF District (tax-increment-financing ), which has proved successful in other cities. The Mayor also says the deal would supposedly create 21,000 new jobs. Sounds great, right? I’m cautiously optimistic.

I don’t mean to poop in the city’s Cheerios, to use one of my wife’s favorite expressions, but I’m skeptical of our recurring approach to chasing shiny projects that taxpayers end up holding the bag for (think Stone Brewing – time will tell on that one – and the Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center). Meanwhile, we don’t have a fully fleshed out schools plan despite a Meals Tax. I fully realize I’m oversimplifying some of this, but we need to very carefully consider this proposal and its implications. Very, very carefully. That said, there’s no question that the Coliseum has long since reached the end of its useful life and costs us $1.5 million in maintenance and operating expenses at this point – basically a liability. And this proposal could very well be a shot in the arm for this area. The next step is a debate before City Council. We’ll continue to follow this important process as it moves along.

In other Coliseum news, the city is no longer booking events at the venue in 2019, which means for the first time in 46 years, VCU is without a space in which to hold a university-wide commencement ceremony, and students are (understandably) not happy about it. I’d be upset, too! VCU claims all alternative venues explored were either too small, unavailable, or too expensive. I get the first two excuses, but VCU is not hurting for money. And tuition continues to climb. There’s a petition circulating now to do something (I’m not sure what, exactly) about it. Okay, I need to step off of (and put away) my soapbox now.

Speaking of funding (and Mayor Stoney), he released a new plan this week to make sure every citizen is counted in the 2020 Census, which will be here before you know it. According to people who track this kind of thing, the city loses out on $2,000 per year, per person who isn’t represented. The “RVA Counts 2020” commission is looking for ambassadors, volunteers, and more to ensure we get all of the funding we are entitled to. Here’s what you need to know.

How cool is this? The city will hold host to the 2019 World Flying Disc Championships at venues across town next summer. I didn’t even know this was a thing.

Attention bookworms! The Richmond Public Library’s semi-annual book sale kicks off today, and there are so many awesome deals to be had.

Congratulations to Scott’s Addition-based Health Warrior, makers of all sorts of delicious chia bars, for their acquisition by PepsiCo this week. The best news is they’ll continue to be headquartered in the neighborhood, albeit in a much larger space.

Weekend event picks