In brief

In other words While UVA leadership has continued to stress its willingness to engage with students over the ongoing conflict in Gaza, one such conversation did not proceed as planned on Thursday, May 9, when members of Apartheid Divest—a coalition of 43 student groups—walked out on a pre-scheduled meeting with UVA President Jim Ryan. More […]

Conflicting accounts

Administrators, faculty, students, and the broader Charlottesville community continue to grapple with the forceful removal of a pro-Palestine encampment from the University of Virginia by police on Saturday, May 4. No one can agree on exactly what happened. University leadership, including President Jim Ryan and University Police Chief Tim Longo, outlined the timeline of events […]

The Downtown Mall: Past & Present

The Downtown Mall is a central feature of life in Charlottesville—a place where residents, locals, and students alike head for shopping, meals, drinks, and entertainment. But there’s more: At eight blocks, it’s one of the longest pedestrian malls in the country. Of about 200 pedestrian malls built in the 20th century, ours is one of […]

Explosive growth

Unlike Scottsville, Crozet is not a town, and decisions about land use are up to the six-member Board of Supervisors. The unincorporated community is in Albemarle’s White Hall District, and last year, incumbent Supervisor Ann Mallek narrowly defeated challenger Brad Rykal.   Rykal’s campaign argued Albemarle has focused too much development into Crozet without providing […]

Shortened stay

Four years after opening its doors, the Quirk Hotel in Charlottesville was sold for $24 million to Blue Suede Hospitality Group on Monday, April 29. The hotel will undergo a complete rebrand—including a renaming—later this fall. Originally opened in March 2020, the Charlottesville Quirk Hotel is the sister location of the popular Richmond-based Quirk Hotel. […]

Breaking camp

Tensions between organizers and university leadership reached a boiling point underneath the gray skies on Saturday, May 4, when police forcefully broke up a pro-Palestine encampment at the University of Virginia.  By all accounts, the UVA Encampment for Gaza organized peacefully on Grounds, with demonstrators intermittently chanting, decorating signs, and working on their finals throughout […]

In brief

Careful construction The Charlottesville Department of Parks and Recreation will begin remedial efforts at Oakwood Cemetery on May 13 following the conclusion of a forensic investigation and information sessions. The investigation into conditions at the historic, 14-acre cemetery started in December 2023 when the city hired Line and Grade Civil Engineering to conduct a “comprehensive […]

House down

The City of Charlottesville issued a stop-work order on Friday, April 26, at 521 Park Plaza in the North Downtown neighborhood. When it served the document, the city discovered the three-bedroom house had been demolished.  At some point late last week, a yellow excavator smashed the one-and-a-half-story structure into pieces. City records listed the home, […]

Circling back

Construction is on the horizon at Premier Circle. The former Red Carpet Inn was transformed into an emergency shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic, and helped nearly 100 people exit homelessness. The facility closed in June of 2023, leaving a gap in Charlottesville’s network of shelter services, but construction on the next phase of the project […]

Shuttered

On April 18, 10 days after the termination of its fraternal order agreement with the University of Virginia, the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity posted an unlisted video to its YouTube channel. In the video, Justin Buck, the national organization’s executive vice president, sternly addresses his fraternity brothers.  “For the first time since March 1, 1868, […]