Monroe Park

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Monroe Park is a 7.5 acre (30,000 m²) landscaped park that is located 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of the Virginia State Capitol Building in downtown Richmond, Virginia. It is named after James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States (1817 - 1825).

The park unofficially demarcates the eastern "point" of the fan district and is considered to be Richmond's oldest Park.

Monroe park is pentagonal in shape, with an arrangement of paved paths among lawns and mature deciduous trees, intersecting at a cast iron fountain in the center of the area. This Victorian Park is currently in the planning process of undergoing an historically sensitive extensive renovation. The Monroe Park Advisory Council, an organization reconstituted by City Councilman William Pantele in 2003, in partnership with the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Commununity Facilities and Richmond's Department of Community Development are leading the charge.

[edit] History

• Purchased by the City of Richmond in 1851.
• The land was first used as the State Agricultural Fair Grounds in the mid-19th century.
• During the Civil War the area was used as a camp ground and military hospital.
• A central stone fountain was added in the 1870's and replaced with the current cast iron fountain in the early twentieth century.
• Bronze monument of Williams Carter Wickham erected in 1891.
• Monroe Park was home to the City's first baseball games.
• Has become the center of the Virginia Commonwealth University Monroe Park campus.
• 2005: Monroe Park is enabled with wi-fi technology for public use.

[edit] Flora and Fauna

• Monroe Park is home to many very tame squirrels.
• Pigeons are also abundant at certain times, along with any number of wild birds, particularly in the Spring.
• The park is home to many trees: some very old and large, such as Magnolias and Oaks, that have existed for many decades. Certain specimens have been nominated for the REMARKABLE TREES OF VIRGINIA program.
• the plantings surrounding the fountain are a project of the FRIENDS OF MONROE PARK.

[edit] Problems

1. Homeless people tend to congregate in Monroe Park. This is due in part to the proximity of the park to various churches and feeding programs in that area. As of now, artificial lighting of the park is relatively poor, though there are plans to signficantly improve that issue.