A judge on Friday rejected The Family Foundation’s request for a temporary restraining order to halt the sale of a city-owned property to the Virginia League of Planned Parenthood.
Attorneys with the religious organization last month filed a lawsuit against Richmond on behalf of Dr. Sheila M. Furey, a Chesterfield County psychiatrist who says she was denied an opportunity to bid on the 4929 Chamberlayne Ave. parcel. The former Brook Hill School was sold for $10 to Planned Parenthood.
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The sale was unanimously approved by Richmond’s City Council members on July 22.
Attorneys with the Richmond-based Family Foundation say officials failed to “issue or publish any invitation for bids or request for proposals” for the site. in violation of city code.
Attorneys had sought a restraining order to block the sale while they litigated the claims. On Friday, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Tracy W.J. Thorne-Begland denied that request, allowing the project to continue, Mayor Levar Stoney’s spokesperson Gianni Snidle told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
“The restraining order … would have paused the sale,” Snidle explained. “The judge dismissed it.”
While the complaint against the city is still active, Snidle said the project — a $6 million women’s health clinic — “can move forward” while the suit progresses.
In a statement, Stoney said he was “pleased to see the judge side with the City of Richmond.”
“Access to affordable, quality healthcare, including reproductive services, is essential to the wellbeing of our residents,” he said.
Stoney added that the city’s North Side, where the tract is located, is a “health care desert” and that the addition of a Planned Parenthood clinic will “meet Richmonders right where they are.”
“We will continue to move with this project and look forward to delivering a new clinic in Richmond,” he said.
Planned Parenthood operates two Richmond-area centers that provide abortions, women’s health care and other services.
Rae Pickett, communications director for the Virginia League of Planned Parenthood, said she could not immediately comment on the suit, but said the organization is “excited to be able to continue to move forward with the city.”
Representatives for The Family Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The foundation is a nonprofit organization that says it advocates for legislation based on biblical principles.
In a previous statement, The Family Foundation’s Founding Freedoms Law Center spokesperson Victoria Cobb called the sale a “sweetheart deal” with Planned Parenthood that came at the expense of Furey’s practice, which offers “educational brain training services to children and adults with autism, brain injuries, and dyslexia.”
The move also cost the city “over a million dollars” in real estate revenue, according to Cobb.
The property in January was assessed at a total value of $1,246,000, records show.
The 6,500-square-foot building and site were acquired by Richmond Public Schools when the area was annexed from Henrico County in 1942.
The Family Foundation was founded in 1985 as a Christian conservative lobbying group. Last month, it organized a rally to protest the Chesterfield County School Board’s inaction on adopting new policies that roll back protections afforded to transgender students.
PHOTOS: 29 images from the Times-Dispatch archives
In October 1980, Ronald Reagan, at the time the Republican nominee for president, hoisted Brady Spindel, 8, of Portsmouth, during a rally at the Norfolk Scope coliseum. More than 4,000 Reagan supporters attended.
In February 1969, Medical College of Virginia nursing students Marsha Penney (left) and Martha Mooney checked equipment. They had joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in June 1968, and the Army was covering their tuition, room and board at MCV in Richmond. After graduation, they would begin transitioning from civilian to military life with five weeks of basic training in Texas.
In September 1959, stable hand Garfield Tillman walked award-winning racehorse First Landing through Meadow Stable, the Caroline County operation of horse owner Christopher T. Chenery. First Landing, the U.S. champion 2-year-old colt in 1958, had been convalescing after an illness.
In April 1948, James Phillips Schultz supervised a mumbletypeg game played by two youths at the Richmond Home for Boys. Schultz, 81, was the oldest alumnus of the home. To celebrate the institution’s 102nd birthday, alumni, families and children gathered for an afternoon program that included music , games and dancing for the youths.
In March 1969, St. Mary’s Hospital nurses used the Teachmobile, a cart that moved among floors and allowed workers to learn without relying on large group gatherings. Jeanne W. Orr (left), director of the hospital’s continuing education program, designed the cart with display boards and a tape-recorded lecture. With her is Mary Anne Cook. The Teachmobile was constructed from a flower cart by the hospital’s carpenter.
In August 1954, members of the Richmond Civic Ballet rehearsed for an upcoming performance. The open-membership volunteer group, which presented roughly a dozen performances annually at local events, was organized almost four years earlier by local former professional dancers Betty Carper Grigg and John Hurdle.
In January 1964, traffic on East Broad Street in Richmond moved slowly after the city received more than 4 inches of snow.
In April 1977, workmen removed the fountain from its foundation in Monroe Park in Richmond. A replacement, cast from a mold of the old one, was to be made by an iron company in Alabama and installed during the summer.
In May 1978, owner Jim Thayer stood outside Borkey’s store on Atlee Road in Hanover County. He planned to highlight the store’s more than 100-year history by ordering products that were sold there in the early days.
In April 1978, students from Huguenot High School in Richmond worked with director Dave Anderson on a public television series called “As We See It.” Financed by a federal grant, the series shed light on school desegregation across America, with students contributing scripts for scenes. The Huguenot segment was titled “The Riot that Never Was” and included a re-enactment of a tense moment in the cafeteria during the previous school year, which ultimately was resolved.
In January 1956, the Boys Club of Richmond expanded by purchasing the house next door to its North Robinson Street location. Options for the new space included more offices, a library, kitchen, meeting quarters and a basement rifle range. The price of the new building was $10,000.
In November 1978, African-American women gathered for a beauty clinic at the Thalhimers at Eastgate Mall in Richmond. The clinic, sponsored by Fashion Fair, brought in beauty professionals, including Pearl Hester (standing at right), to demonstrate makeup techniques.
This May 1965 image shows a section of East Broad Street in downtown Richmond after an evening storm.
In September 1941, amid a nationwide gas shortage, Harry J. Donati (left) and Joseph G. Robben drove their horse-drawn carriage down 25th Street in Church Hill in Richmond.
In November 1980, a 1922 firetruck with extension hose was on display at Engine Co. 20 on Forest Hill Avenue in South Richmond. The vehicle, which was in service until 1958, deteriorated for years until local residents and businesses volunteered to restore it.
In October 1987, Lee Lockwood, 5, rode on the back of a pony village cart driven by Laura Crews (right) and his aunt, Grace Battisto, at Maymont in Richmond. They were attending the park’s Victorian Day, a lawn party highlighting turn-of-the-century life.
In September 1961, the Bellevue Theater marquee on MacArthur Avenue in North Side still read “Closed for the Winter.” Neighborhood Theatre Inc. said there were no plans to reopen the theater, closed since 1960. It became home to the New Dominion Barn Dance, a country music radio show.
This June 1964 image shows Buchanan School in Richmond’s East End a day before its scheduled demolition. The school opened in 1912. In 1964, the property was purchased by the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority as part of the 17th Street Redevelopment Project. The almost 600 students were transferred to the new Mosby School .
In December 1986, Irene Dameron stood behind the counter of her Westmoreland County shop with regulars (from left) Bob Prather, Ben Allen and Bob Sanford. Dameron had run the shop for 28 years — she had taken over the business from her father, who ran it for 33 years before that. Though the store’s inventory had been reduced, her loyal customers came in almost every day to pass time, action Dameron encouraged by having benches and chairs in the shop.
In June 1951, square dance caller Richard Chase taught playground directors some steps in preparation for a dance scheduled for the Byrd Park tennis courts in Richmond as part of Park and Recreation Week. The program was organized by the city and sponsored by Thalhimers.
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In December 1947, Charles C. Slayton (left), president of the Society of American Magicians, was the target of a card trick when Dan Friedman pulled an oversized deck of cards from Slayton’s vest pocket during an event at The Jefferson Hotel .
On Valentine’s Day 1989, a 50-foot-wide heart hung from the columns of the state Capitol’s south portico in Richmond. The oversized valentine was created to mark the 20th anniversary of the “Virginia is for Lovers” advertising campaign.
This May 1947 image shows a street scene on Main Street near Ninth Street in downtown Richmond. At the time, cars shared the road with electric streetcars. Two years later, with the increase in buses and automobiles, the streetcar system was replaced.
In July 1940, a Richmond Colts batter headed to first base while a teammate scored in a victory over the Norfolk Tars in a Piedmont League game at Tate Field, which was on Mayo Island in Richmond.
In September 1972, Rudy Peele (left) and Al Sanders shared a laugh at the Virginia Squires rookie tryout camp in Richmond. About 16 players were expected at the camp, including four who were invited after doing well at an open tryout in Norfolk the previous week. That tryout attracted 81 players who hoped to join the American Basketball Association team.
In March 1964, Native American children left the two-room state-funded school on the Mattaponi Reservation in King William County. An accompanying article reviewed population trends among Virginia’s Indian tribes; there were 22 Mattaponi and Pamunkey children attending the school at the time.
In August 1947, patrons of a Richmond laundromat played bridge while their clothing was in the machines. The new coin-operated laundry facilities saved time, as a half-day chore without machines at home was reduced to a 30-minute cycle. The laundromat also became a social gathering place.
In June 1943, a sign posted in the elevators of the Atlantic Life Insurance Co. in downtown Richmond challenged tradition by asking men to keep their hats on to speed elevator service and allow for more room.
