Hickory Hill community opposes planned fire training facility

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

In a retreat from a two-year-old policy of expanding parks and green space in overly hot South Side, Mayor Levar M. Stoney and his administration are quietly pressing to replace 2 acres of lawn at the Hickory Hill Community Center in South Side with a $1 million fire training building.

Next Monday, April 3, the Richmond Planning Commission, could settle whether to approve or reject the controversial proposal that has pitted residents of the area against their council representative and the life-saving department they generally support.

The Fire Department is seeking approval to develop the two-story building as a replacement for the outdated and condemned training facility it has used for years in the Sandston area of Henrico County.

The new building is to be formed from stacked shipping containers and be used a few days a year for required training of recruits.

An advisory arm of the commission has already rejected the proposal to develop the training building on land located on the west side

Movement, he led demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience, creating wide support and a mass movement that led Congress to impose sanctions that forced change in South Africa.

As a founder and executive director of the lobbying and policy group TransAfrica for 24 years, he also was a leading voice of support for democracy in Haiti and undertook a 27-day hunger strike in a bid to push President Bill Clinton into temporarily admitting Black Haitian refugees on the same basis as lighter-skinned Cubans.

Described as an unwavering foe of injustice and advocate for human rights, he also pressed

Please turn to A4 administration has not put the money to work eight months later.

After scolding the city housing officials for failing to use the funds as the council directed, Council President Michael J. Jones, 9th District, joined a consensus in directing the administration to release the funds to the nonprofit project:Homes so repair and replacement of decrepit mobile homes can proceed.

The mayor has requested another $500,000 for mobile home improvement, but his administration