Byrd Park
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Byrd Park is a public park located in Richmond, Virginia, USA north of the James River and adjacent to Maymont. The two hundred acre park includes a 9/10 mile running track with exercise stops, monuments, an amphitheatre, and three small lakes: Shields (sometimes spelled Shields), Swan, and Boat Lake. Boat Lake (also called Fountain Lake) has a lighted fountain at its center. Visitors can rent paddleboats there in season. The park also includes tennis courts, Little League baseball fields, and a children's playground. The historic roundhouse and Poplar Vale Cemetery also are located in the park.
The park's Christopher Columbus Monument was controversial at the time of its construction because it honored Italian-Americans.
The World War I Memorial Carillon, built in 1926, is a memorial to those who died in that war; it contains 56 bells.
Dogwood Dell Amphitheatre has annual summer concert and theatrical events, including a fireworks display on the 4th of July. Events and shows for children are frequently scheduled at the Ha'Penny Stage just beside the Carillon.
Each May, the park hosts a yearly "Arts in the Park" festival, a two day event in which over 400 artists and artisans sell their work. June through August, the park holds its annual Summer Festival of Arts which host plays, concerts, children events, and other family activities. The Summer Festival of the Arts celebrated its fiftieth season in 2006. The Carillon is also home to the City's live Christmas Nativity pageant now held (weather permitting) on December 23rd, after over 60 years of holding it on Christmas Eve.
The park was nominated in 2006 to the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.
In the early hours of March 28, 2008, police responded to reports of a shooting in Byrd Park. Tyler J. Binsted from Mount Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley was shot to death during a robbery. Two assailants robbed Binstead and a friend of their car keys at gunpoint. Binstead was shot while walking away from the scene. The two assailants, described by police as black males between 14 and 17 years old, fled the scene in Binstead's navy blue Honda Accord. The vehicle had a Virginia license plate with the number PHA 787.[1]
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