Year: 2013

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An “Adventure Outpost” in the First Floor of New Crozet Library

I’m really curious to learn who the “confidential” retail tenant will be.

Reading the PDF from the County (bolding mine)-

On October 3, 2012, the Board discussed guidelines and preliminary concepts for use of the Crozet Library first floor space. The first floor of the Library is comprised of approximately 4,796 gross square feet (gsf) of available space, and includes restrooms and a 700 net square feet (nsf) entrance/lobby area and windows fronting Crozet Avenue. The design has the lower level split into a larger tenant area of 1,697 nsf and smaller tenant space of 1,038 nsf. As was stressed during this discussion, the first floor space, with its visual connection to the street and its co-location with the Library in a prime area of downtown Crozet, is an important potential catalyst for activity and vitality in downtown Crozet.

…

Staff has met several times with a consortium of the major tourism partners in the western Albemarle County region,
including:

– Shenandoah National Park/Appalachian Trail/Skyline Drive;
– Artisans Center of Virginia;
– Monticello Wine Trail;
– Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau;
– Piedmont Council for the Arts; and
– Albemarle County Parks and Recreation.

All of these partners have expressed great interest in the concept of an “Adventure Outpost” headquartered at the Library that would serve as a gateway and promotional venue for the significant cluster of tourism assets in the area. The County does not have a focal point for our rich inventory of outdoor recreational and adventure-oriented options, and the partners felt that there was a niche for this type of “launching point” that would have a more active and engaging ambience than a traditional visitor center. While the space is small and would not involve staff from every attraction, the partners have all committed to supporting the “Adventure Outpost” with materials, programming and other services.

As mentioned in the October 3, 2012 executive summary, the agreement establishing the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau (CACVB) mandates that CACVB operate and maintain “at least one visitor center within the City and at least one visitor center in the County.” Currently, there is not a visitor center in the County, and a location in the Crozet Library could satisfy that requirement while generating some yet to be determined level of rental income. The Department of Parks and Recreation has also expressed a willingness to provide some level of staffing support for the “Adventure Outpost” since it would strongly align with their mission.

Taken together, the potential private sector tenant and the “Adventure Outpost” would meet the guiding principles established for the space while generating income from a significant amount of the space and supporting the visibility and viability of the County’s tourism industry. The guiding principles are:

– Create foot traffic/pedestrian activity for downtown Crozet to maximize activity and revenues for other downtown businesses
– Create a lively street front presence for this important frontage on Crozet Avenue
– Generate revenue to help cover the County’s expense
– Ensure that all space usage would be compatible with the Library’s mission and operations
– Maintain flexibility in the space and operate under the understanding that at some point in the future
the space could convert to Library usage

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Crozet Fireworks – 6 July 2013

The Crozet fireworks are going to be big this year. Next Saturday the parade lineup starts at 3, parade starts at 4, games and food and such at Crozet Park thereafter and fireworks at dark (around 9:30).

Thanks, Allie for the better information!

An unofficial planned timeline:

3PM Parade line-up at Crozet Elementary  

4PM – Parade starts – goes to Crozet Park -via Crozet Ave, Tabor St., High Street, and Park Road.
5:15 PM – Announcements and Rockfish Gap band plays at Crozet Park  
6-ish Announcements, patriotic sing-along  
6PM Start of softball game between CVFD and Peachtree
7:15-ish Announcements, first raffle drawings, and then Second Draw starts playing
8:00 PM – Parade Awards (might be combined with 7:15 break if timing works)
9:15-ish – wrap-up announcements, final raffle drawings.
9:30 PM – Fireworks show begins.
10:15-ish – it’s a wrap!

Contact:

Parade info and registration –

Email: [email protected]
Crozet Fire Department

Event information –

CrozetCommunity.org
Facebook
CrozetCommunity.org

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10 Questions for WAHS’ New Principal – Dr. John Werner

WAHS has a new principal for the first time in several years. Dr. John Werner will take the reins at Western Albemarle High School this fall, starting this summer. I asked for some questions from the crowd and received quite a few great questions that ranged from what’s his vision for WAHS to how he’s planning to address the achievement gap.

Questions hère, Answers after the break. Thank you everyone for the questions! I really appreciate your input and hope that as a community we can work to make WAHS (and Henley, Brownsville & Crozet) the best schools around. **

You’ll note that when I categorized this post it’s categorized under Crozet, Schools and Politics. Sadly, (my opinion) school administration is at least equal parts education and politics. Continue reading “10 Questions for WAHS’ New Principal – Dr. John Werner”

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Tracking Community Engagement – Poop Matters

It’s always fun to look at the traffic and engagement on posts on the RealCrozetVA Facebook page. I put things there and on Twitter sometimes that may not warrant a full blog post here.

For example –

A call for live-tweeters of the CCAC meeting – 343 reached in the lifecycle of the post.

Someone pooped in the pool? – 1,909. In three hours. So far. Update 25 June, 6:45 am – 2,566 Reached.

Looking at the Facebook traffic page:

RealCrozetVA-2.jpg

Apparently, poop matters.

Note – I’m hoping to get similar engagement when I post the interview tonight with incoming WAHS principal, Dr. John Werner. 🙂

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Thanks to Bama Works, Crozet Arts offers Scholarships

Crozet Arts has received a grant from the Bama Works fund of Dave Matthews Band in the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation (CACF) to support The Twinkle Project: Variations on a Theme by Mozart, a week-long interdisciplinary (music, dance, theater, and visual art) artistic performance production for children and teens, ages 6 – 14. The workshop takes place June 24 – 28, from 9:15 – 3:15 daily, and finishes with a performance on Friday.

There are still openings and, thanks to Bama Works, NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE! Please contact [email protected] for information/registration.

The workshop is open to students with or without experience or previous training in the arts. Students will learn dance/instrumental/drama scenes based on constellations, the Story of Dhruva (North Star), Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and will create props and costume pieces for the production. The production is directed by Sharon Tolczyk (Artistic Director, Crozet Arts), Boomie Pedersen (Director, Hamner Theater), Dr. Beth Cantrell (Director, Talent Education at Crozet Arts), and Madhavi Reddi (Bharatanatyam classical Indian Dance).

Crozet Arts is a 501©(3) Non-Profit located in the rear of the Old Crozet/Field School.

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Crozet Community Advisory Council Meeting – 19 June 2013

Anyone interested in live-tweeting this meeting? I’ve found the information for those unable to attend is invaluable.

via email –

Please note that the June meeting of the Crozet Community Advisory Council will be held at the County Office Building at 6:30pm on Wednesday, June 19, 2013. The meeting will begin with a joint Advisory Councils meeting to discuss proposed changes to the critical slopes regulations in the Development Areas and we will follow that meeting with a short regular meeting of the Crozet CAC, the draft agenda for which is attached.

(draft agenda)

1. Agenda Review(Meg Holden – CCAC chair).
2. Approval of Minutes from May 16, 2013 meeting.
3. Project Updates/Information:
• Update on Library Fundraising (Bill Schrader)
• Update on streetscape
• Anything on plans for pedestrian crossing signal at Clover
Lawn/Harris Teeter, approve a resolution to request some action
regarding a safer solution for this crossing area
• Plans for Crozet Independence Day Parade, Celebration and Fireworks
on July 6.
4. Turning lanes on 250
5. Extreme jeep driving on Bear Creek Rd.
6. Items not listed on the Agenda
7. Announcements.
8. Future Agenda Items.

Continue reading “Crozet Community Advisory Council Meeting – 19 June 2013”

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Albemarle County Seeks to Facilitate Crozet getting a Hotel

Crozet needs a hotel. The County of Albemarle, recognizing this, “Albemarle County will take steps to make itself eligible for a state financing program that could support the construction of hotels.”

Catlin said the county’s economic development team is supportive of having a small hotel, one that keeps the character of Crozet intact, while filling the critical deficiency for adequate lodging. She estimated a future hotel would have between 30 to 60 rooms.

Read more at Charlottesville Tomorrow.

Questions:

– What’s the status of the proposed hotel in Old Trail?
– Could Crozet support two hotels? (I think yes, so long as they’re small and Crozet-ish)
– Where would the second one go? (Presumably in the site of the former Barnes Lumberyard)
– Will Crozet be further fractured?

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Restoration Restaurant at Old Trail

In a sentence – we’ll go back. On a father’s day lark, my wife and I went to Restoration and were impressed with the menu and the fact that they have only local beers on tap.

2013-06-16 18.00.44.jpg

The latest entry in the Old Trail clubhouse restaurant space is Restoration. The renovation is a nice one; next time I stop in I’ll go for dinner and get some pictures.

The Crozet Gazette noted in April:

Local restauranteurs Andrew Watson and Kelley Tripp, who have been involved in six successful restaurants including Boylan Heights and Mellow Mushroom on The Corner in Charlottesville, will launch a new restaurant at the Old Trail Golf Club later this spring. The restaurant is designed to serve golfers, host weddings and events, and welcome families from Crozet and beyond.

Restoration’s phone number is 434-823-1841.

Continue reading “Restoration Restaurant at Old Trail”