About Friends of Pump House
The board is comprised of 5 former VCU masters of urban and regional planning students who now work in related planning fields, "Mr. Pump House" and Chris Knoop who have been involved in the Pump House restoration independently for almost 20 years and other Richmond natives coming from diverse backgrounds including an RVAHUB cofounder, a Department of Social Service employee, a developer and the University of Richmond's alumni relations and fundraising coordinator. The group also has a robust advisory committee including members from DPU, DHR, Historic Richmond Foundation, the Virginia Canal and Navigation Society, Friends of the James River Park, Venture Richmond and many others.
The idea for the non-profit and the board stems from a master's thesis completed over the course of Fall 2016-Spring 2017. Through the process of establishing existing conditions at the Pump House (what condition is it in?, who uses it?, why? and why hasn't it been renovated?) and a very deliberate and inclusive planning process (there are many many stakeholders involved on the Pump House Park parcel as you can imagine... when CSX, DPU, city of Richmond DHR, various non-profits and the people who use it all have a stake in a property!!)
It became clear that the major barrier to revitalizing the pump house was the lack of an organization focused on coordination between all these groups, fundraising and marketing (the city of Richmond dept. of Park and Rec dept. has hundreds of parks and is historically always underfunded). The James River Park is a massive park seeing almost 2 million visitors a year and the 5 or so employees currently on staff can not provide the attention needed to deal with each sensitive aspect of the Pump House and move it forward. There was a apparent disconnect between all the people who care about the park but had no forum or "place to send the check", the chronically underfunded city park's staff who can't manage the project as an independent entity because of other responsibilities, and experts across different subject areas working independently rather than through the lens of Pump House revitalization.
The City of Richmond Dept. of Parks and Rec. was the client/recipient of the master's thesis (the Pump House Park Revitalization Plan). In coordinating with them (the owner of the parcel) and various other stakeholders already mentioned .... the plan recommended working with a non-profit entity to serve as this 'forum" between the city, experts and the community. To manage and engage all the necessary stakeholders and receive the proper approvals from each. The Friends achieved 501(c)3 status through our partnership with the Enrichmond Foundation (so we can now accept tax-exempt donations and function as an extension of the foundation... with all the rights and responsibilities of a non-profit organization.)
The overall goal of the plan and the mission of the organization is to achieve a certificate of occupancy for the building. To do this, barriers include retrofitting water and sewage infrastructure to a building on the national registry of historic places (requiring $$ and oversight), roof repair, another egress point (the east side of the building currently under DPU control) and a handicap accessible elevator in accordance with ADA requirements. The first goal of the plan was to create the aforementioned 501(c)3 organization capable of accepting tax exempt donations and assembling a group capable of writing grants, coordinating volunteers, engaging stakeholders, general fundraising and accepting any and all "in-kind" donations (from engineer review of the building to stained-glass workers)... all while receiving permissions from each necessary stakeholder (and while working within the conservation easement protecting the building). The group is also acting as stewards of the Park, canal, and Washington's Arch through volunteer clean-ups and work days.
The idea for the non-profit and the board stems from a master's thesis completed over the course of Fall 2016-Spring 2017. Through the process of establishing existing conditions at the Pump House (what condition is it in?, who uses it?, why? and why hasn't it been renovated?) and a very deliberate and inclusive planning process (there are many many stakeholders involved on the Pump House Park parcel as you can imagine... when CSX, DPU, city of Richmond DHR, various non-profits and the people who use it all have a stake in a property!!)
It became clear that the major barrier to revitalizing the pump house was the lack of an organization focused on coordination between all these groups, fundraising and marketing (the city of Richmond dept. of Park and Rec dept. has hundreds of parks and is historically always underfunded). The James River Park is a massive park seeing almost 2 million visitors a year and the 5 or so employees currently on staff can not provide the attention needed to deal with each sensitive aspect of the Pump House and move it forward. There was a apparent disconnect between all the people who care about the park but had no forum or "place to send the check", the chronically underfunded city park's staff who can't manage the project as an independent entity because of other responsibilities, and experts across different subject areas working independently rather than through the lens of Pump House revitalization.
The City of Richmond Dept. of Parks and Rec. was the client/recipient of the master's thesis (the Pump House Park Revitalization Plan). In coordinating with them (the owner of the parcel) and various other stakeholders already mentioned .... the plan recommended working with a non-profit entity to serve as this 'forum" between the city, experts and the community. To manage and engage all the necessary stakeholders and receive the proper approvals from each. The Friends achieved 501(c)3 status through our partnership with the Enrichmond Foundation (so we can now accept tax-exempt donations and function as an extension of the foundation... with all the rights and responsibilities of a non-profit organization.)
The overall goal of the plan and the mission of the organization is to achieve a certificate of occupancy for the building. To do this, barriers include retrofitting water and sewage infrastructure to a building on the national registry of historic places (requiring $$ and oversight), roof repair, another egress point (the east side of the building currently under DPU control) and a handicap accessible elevator in accordance with ADA requirements. The first goal of the plan was to create the aforementioned 501(c)3 organization capable of accepting tax exempt donations and assembling a group capable of writing grants, coordinating volunteers, engaging stakeholders, general fundraising and accepting any and all "in-kind" donations (from engineer review of the building to stained-glass workers)... all while receiving permissions from each necessary stakeholder (and while working within the conservation easement protecting the building). The group is also acting as stewards of the Park, canal, and Washington's Arch through volunteer clean-ups and work days.