[chanting] Ti-ny park! Ti-ny park!

We love a quirky little neighborhood park, don’t we folks? Well, I guess I shouldn’t speak for you. But I certainly do. Triangle Park, for example? Great park—and getting even better, thanks to the yeomanly efforts of Harry Herskowitz and other neighborhood volunteers who have stepped up to turn that little patch of green into something special. (And of course, all the donors who kicked in cash to fund that work; you can too!) Diagonally across the neighborhood there’s another little triangular urban oasis taking shape thanks to another group of volunteers’ yeomanly efforts. But for whatever reason—maybe because it’s not on a major artery like Jefferson Avenue?—the James L. Christian, Jr. Park wasn’t on my radar until a tipster suggested I go check it out. Which is how your humble Lookout columnist finally met Mark Olinger.

Even if you haven’t, the name might ring a bell. Olinger is a former city planning director, Church Hill North resident, and current president of the Church Hill Central Civic Association (CHCCA.) On a sweaty Thursday afternoon in early June, he and I descended on James L. Christian, Jr. Park, located in the middle of the three-way intersection of Chimborazo Boulevard, P Street, and Oakwood Ave., to discuss this lovely little pocket park’s recent transformation—and his role in helping to bring it about.

“It's not a big park, but wouldn't it be a nice park to make a better park?” he said, describing his sentiment when first laying eyes on the overgrown little plaza on a visit to the neighborhood in 2011. After moving into a house on a nearby block in 2017, “I've been spending all my time since trying to figure out how to get this thing fixed up.”

Years passed, and life got in the way, but the park—which is anchored by a circular planter centered with a sleek stone monument to its late namesake, a Richmond World War II veteran-turned-three-term Congressman—stayed on Olinger’s mind. After leaving his post with the city of Richmond in 2021 and joining the advisory council of the local nonprofit Capital Trees in 2023, he finally began to dig in.

“In 2024, we got $10,000 from the Richmond Outdoor and Prosperity Fund through the Community Foundation,” he recalled, ambling up to pinch a yellowed leaf off a newly planted flowering redbud sapling, one of nine that Olinger and dozen other volunteers from Capital Trees and the neighborhood planted around the park’s perimeter in May 2025. In addition to the redbuds, Christian’s memorial is now flanked by young London plane and oak trees that he hopes will soon shade the tiny park. Within the planter, which Olinger guesses may be a century old based on archival Sanborn maps of the area that he’s reviewed, new flowers and low shrubs ring the black etched marble monument touting Christian’s many accomplishments. “We've got some London planes that are down [the block] that are about five or six years old, and they're 25 feet tall now,” he said excitedly. “The oaks… these will get 40-plus feet!” One imagines Christian, who sat on Richmond’s planning commission in the ‘70s and even chaired it one year, would have appreciated the enthusiasm.

As Olinger spoke, a landscaper pulled up in a pickup truck towing a trailer mounted with a water storage tank. While the park appears to have a water line running beneath it, Olinger has yet to start the process of getting the Department of Public Utilities to install a hose hydrant to service the park’s new flora. “This is not the highest priority on their agenda right now,” he said, referencing the city’s second water crisis of 2025, which had been resolved just a week prior to our rendezvous.

(That’s not to say the city’s former planner won’t use his inside knowledge of the city’s bureaucracy and powerful vendors to keep James L. Christian, Jr. Park on the come-up. For example: did you know you can get Comcast to reroute one of its overhead lines? Neither did I. But Olinger did, and he got the cable giant to do just that to give the new trees more unobstructed room to grow.)

For now, though, keeping the park’s new plants from withering is the purview of a landscaping firm with which CHCCA has contracted for mobile watering services. A single growing season costs $4,000, Olinger told me. “So I need to think about what we do next year for water.” (Him and Danny Avula both.)

But these are problems to be solved in the future. As it stands, the park is looking better this year than it was last year, and certainly than it was when Olinger first laid eyes on it back in 2011. So allow me pass along the tip: if you haven’t yet, go check it out.

📜 Possum Poetry

Possum Poetry is original verse written exclusively for The Lookout by Penelope Poubelle, the Lookout’s litter critter-at-large. If you spot roadside trash you’d like her to immortalize in doggerel, email a photo to [email protected]. All submissions anonymous!

🔨 Libby Hill Park House roof repaired

It’s been a few months since The Lookout has checked in on the Libby Hill Park House, which as you may recall is in need of quite a few repairs after watching over the eponymous park for the past century. Barbara Cotter, chair of the Church Hill Association’s (CHA) Parks and Beautification Committee, told me via email last month that “the roof has just been repaired and received two coats of paint;” I would have relayed this exciting development sooner, but amidst the chaos of everyday life in the twilight of the Republic, I kept forgetting to snap a photo. Sorry! Anyway, the Park House’s roof is looking vibrant with its new paint job, as you can see above. Next up: “redoing the porch flooring and the trim around the porch,” said Cotter.

This vital renovation work requires money, and while The Friends of Libby Hill Park have already raised $10,000, they’re not going to turn down more. So if you’re feeling flush, consider kicking in some funds for the cause!

📢 Happenings on The Hill

• Eyes out for ICE: The Lookout caught some social media and groupchat chatter that masked men, apparently with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, were massing in the vicinity of N. 28th and O Sts. early Friday afternoon. Know more? Securely submit a tip. 

• Garden party: The Roots of Woodville Community Garden is hosting an day soire with a live DJ, face-painting, and more this Saturday (6/28) starting at 12pm. Another flyer for ya.

• Scoops, stories, and sashays: TBD on that last bit, I don’t know how this works. But Spotty Dog is hosting a drag-queen story hour with Jenny Nuclear from 12-2pm on Saturday. More on the event.

• After the soft opening…: The hard opening, I guess? Whatever it is, Kindhearted Goods is doing it this Saturday from 6-9pm. See you there?

• Refurbishment redux: Repair Cafe RVA is returning to Robinson Theater this Sunday (6/29) for another day of keeping stuff out of the landfill and connecting community members. Flyer here.

• Luv 2 laff: Second Bottle’s monthly salon features comedians Nick Smith and Connor Doyle, the latter of which specializes in improv. Yes, and: you’ll need tickets for the Monday evening (6/30) event. They’re on sale now.

• Lunch, then “later!”: Grisette is running a rare midday meal service on Friday (7/4), then shutting ‘er down so the team can watch the fireworks, presumably while drinking responsibly. Peep the special menu.

Happenings on The Hill is a digital bulletin board for events, causes, and other items of interest to East Enders that don’t necessarily merit full editorial treatment. Got something for a future edition? Email the relevant details, links, etc. to [email protected] for consideration!

📸 A Very CHill Photo

Want to share your Very CHill Photo from the neighborhood? Email it to [email protected] with your name as you’d like it to appear for publication, and the camera you shot it on.