Three Richmond City Councilmen want to turn the former Greater Richmond Transit Company bus depot, colloquially known as the “bus barn” into a community space and parking lot.
Three Richmond City Councilmen want to turn the former Greater Richmond Transit Company bus depot, colloquially known as the “bus barn” into a community space and parking lot.
The “bus barn” is located at 100 South Davis Avenue north of the Downtown Expressway, at Cary and Robinson.
The resolution is on the consent agenda for tonight’s meeting. It would allow the negotiation of a deal between the City of Richmond and GRTC to allow the city to lease the “bus barn” for these uses.
“It’s just a way of getting more life and activity at a site that’s not otherwise being used,” Councilman Parker Agelasto told Richmond.com back in January when the plan was first announced.
The RVA Street Art fest turned the aging, dilapidated buildings into canvases for local artists in August, 2013.
The lease would allow the city to open the former RVA Street Art fest space for neighborhood use, like community events, festivals, art and music projects, and even parking for neighboring businesses, according to the Councilman.
Agelasto’s district covers the location of the “bus barn,” councilmen Jonathan Baliles and Charles Samuels are co-patrons of the bill.
The former GRTC Bus Depot space was opened to the public briefly after the Start Art Fest. RVA Mag threw a successful Halloween party there in 2013.
Shortly there after, a security guard patrolling the space was brutally beaten and the area has been closed to the public ever since.
A petition was started to reopen the space to the public was started back in Feb. of last year. It collected over 1,000 signatures, but the space stayed closed.
