Richmond's Pump House got a $100K restoration grant
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The Pump House. Image: Courtesy of Friends of the James River Park System
Friends of Pump House, the organization leading the renovation of Richmond's historic Pump House, just landed a $100,000 grant.
Why it matters: Since 2017, the group has been working to restore the gorgeous Victorian Gothic structure to its former 1920s-era event venue glory.
- The structure, situated just across the Nickel Bridge, was largely abandoned for nearly a century until Friends formed and started working in earnest to restore it.
- The group lost around $35,000 in the Enrichmond Foundation collapse last year, per WTVR.
What's happening: The grant (from the Richmond-based Roller-Bottimore Foundation) will be used to finish the restoration of the windows and doors, a spokesperson for the group tells Axios.
- "The good news is that it further weather-proofs the building and interior work can begin in earnest. The bad news is that it's going to run about $5 million to properly open it for public events," spokesperson Chris Crews says.
Worth noting: Pump House got $1 million in funding earlier this year, $500,000 secured by Virginia's senators from a federal omnibus spending bill, and another $500,000 from private donations from Historic Richmond, per Richmond Magazine.
Flashback: Pump House was built between 1881 to 1883 to pump water (fully untreated) from the James up to the city's main water supply at the Byrd Park Reservoir — and to serve as an upscale, upstairs dance hall (because Richmond's always going to Richmond).
- It was abandoned in 1924, nearly demolished in 1950 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.