FAQs

We propose to renovate the church at 1836 Park Avenue into a multi-purpose community space that serves the Fan and everyone in Richmond – kids, grownups, and elders.

1836 Park is a white, neoclassical-ish-looking building at the corner of Park Avenue and North Meadow Street – across from Meadow Park and diagonally opposite Garnett’s sandwich shop. It has columns and a pediment above its front steps and a friendly bright red front door. It was originally built in 1906.

We are hopeful of refurbishing 1836 Park for use as a community space. After hearing many ideas from neighbors and others, we envision the interior would hold:

• A book and coffee shop on the main and upper floors

• A small daycare for infants and preschoolers on the lower floor

• A multipurpose space on the main floor hosting community gatherings, book talks, celebrations, and anything else the Fan community can dream up – from exercise classes to crafting circles, book clubs to nursing groups, art showcases to afterschool board games

• An unchanged exterior – we are committed to maintaining the building’s historic 1906 exterior (!).

You can see a bit more detail about the potential interior plans here – please note that all drawings are preliminary and illustrative.

 This project’s timing depends on many (many!) factors. The building needs both significant restoration and an amendment to the existing Special Use Permit to authorize the additional uses. Here is a hopeful projection of the project’s milestones:

• Fall 2025: Special Use Permit process (~6-9 mos)

• Winter 2025/26: Health/Safety-related work

• Spring 2026: Begin construction

• Winter 2026/27: Inspections and permits

• Spring 2027: Doors open

There will be some health- and safety-related work in Fall/Winter 2025, which is projected to take a few weeks. Significant construction will not start until Spring 2026 at the earliest, and is projected to take several months.

Inside, yes – outside, no! Although we plan to renovate the building’s interior to enable a broader array of community uses, we will preserve its stately, friendly, historic exterior. All renovations will be completed in alignment with guidance from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

A Special Use Permit allows uses that are not permitted by the underlying zoning. While the uses we are proposing would be permitted if the building remained a church, as private owners we need an amendment to the existing SUP. 

The existing SUP permits the building to be used for purposes outside of its specific zoning designation as requested by the prior owner to permit an office use with up to 15 employees (and accessory uses to the office), as well as events that are not accessory to the office up to 12 per year. We are seeking to amend it to comprehensively cover our intended uses for the building. 

Event Parameters are a part of a Special Use Permit that defines what “event” means in the Permit. They typically include things like how many events and of what size, as well as limits on timing, parking, and noise restrictions. There are two ways to capture the Parameters on special events:

1. put the Parameters within the text of the SUP; or

2. put the Parameters in an attachment called a Special Event Management Plan (SEMP).

A SEMP allows a neighborhood association and us to amend the event parameters, whereas putting the parameters in the SUP requires the city’s agreement to amend parameters. There are pros and cons to both approaches and we are working through them. 

The bookshop will serve coffee. The main space will be supported by a full-service kitchen to enable events to be catered. Alcohol may be served at certain events (through an ABC license specific to the event) . 

We are keen to ensure that noise is not an issue for neighbors and are pursuing multiple ways to manage it:

• Prioritizing sound mitigation in renovation work. Both design (walls, windows, etc) and materials (insulation, flooring, etc) will  help enable activities to be ‘sound-efficient’ and sound to stay inside the building. 

• Consulting with A/V experts from Dominion Energy Center/VMFA. Consultations will inform design, equipment and acoustic treatment practices to enable sound-efficiency (within the constraints of a historic renovation).

• Setting out and enforcing sensible limitations. All guests to the space will be required to observe noise limitations – for example, limiting use of amplified sound, disallowing doors from being open while amplified sound is in use, etc.

We all live in the Fan and we know parking can be limited. We also know that for 100+ years this building hosted hundreds of people for services and events and Sunday school every week, so we are confident there are ways to make things work for all!

We are exploring several ways to mitigate potential parking stress:

• We have already leased 4 spaces in a nearby lot for daily use

• We plan to ask the city to re-designate the loading/drop-off zone in front of the building for certain hours (including daycare dropoff and pickup)

• Events above a certain guest count will be required to provide valet parking for all guests. In these cases, guests will drop their vehicles offsite in local lots and arrive at 1836 on foot or in group shuttle dropoffs. We have confirmed One Monument and First Church of Christ Scientist lots as partners, and will continue to add more.(Note: Traditional valet dropping off in front of 1836 Park may still be used in select circumstances, such as for less mobile guests.)

• We will provide guidance on using transit, ride share, and other modes on our website. And because the building is meant to be a neighborhood resource and gathering spot, we anticipate many of you will come on foot to enjoy its offerings!

Historical records indicate that 1836 Park was built as and has been a place of worship and gathering for most of its life, passing from one congregation to another for almost a century before going unused in recent years:

• 1906 -1929: Built by First Church of Christ, Scientist.

• 1929 - 1945: Purchased and used by Richmond Friends Meeting. Used by other congregations as well.

• 1945 -1993: Purchased and used by Bethel Church. Used by other congregations as well.

• 1993-2019: Purchased and used by The Chapel.

• 2019-2025: Purchased by an individual, then unused. Plans to become a workspace did not come to fruition.

Our restoration process has already lead us to learn more about the building and its unique history. If you have pictures, documents or stories related the building or the surrounding neighborhood, please get in touch – we are so curious!

👋 We’re Laura Schewel, Zoe Chernicoff and David Chernicoff, three neighbors living and raising our families in the Fan. Laura was born and raised in the Fan, returned in 2020, and now has a 3-year-old and a 6-month-old. Zoe and David moved here in 2022 with their kids, now 9 and 6. We work in different fields – transportation engineering, non profit research, media – and aren’t real estate professionals, just neighbors interested in creating a great new space.

If you have ideas for what a community space at 1836 Park could host or are interested in staying informed about the project, please join our list and sign up for updates using the form below.