City Hails Progress of Local
Nonprofit Urban Renewal Program
By Robert
Rogers
Owing in part to its industrial legacy, Richmond is a city
with urban environmental challenges.
Which is why Mayor Gayle McLaughlin hails the establishment
of a local nonprofit dedicated to cleaning, restoring and reusing
urban parcels of land that lay dormant. [emphasis added]
The new nonprofit, named Groundwork Richmond, will “operate
in areas adversely affected by industrialization and within
poor urban communities with significant numbers of brownfields,”
McLaughlin said during a ceremony Monday at City Hall celebrating
the completion of a feasibility study and strategic plan. The
completion of the documents is a key step toward securing funding,
she said. [emphasis added]
Groundwork Richmond is part of a network of independent community
ventures aimed at improving urban environments through local
action by linking local people, business, government and other
organizations, according to a program summary.
The Groundwork USA network works with the Environmental Protection
Agency Brownfields Program and the National Park Service Rivers,
Trails and Conservation Assistance Program. Brownfields are
lands previously used for industrial purposes, which may contain
hazardous residue.
The city has agreed to an annual contribution of $25,000 toward
the nonprofit’s mission.
The initial focus of Groundwork Richmond will be areas within
the city’s Iron Triangle, said Nicole Valentino, a community
advocate within the Mayor’s Office.
“It’s one of the most negatively impacted areas of the city,
in terms of toxic residues and land that needs to be remediated,”
Valentino said. “And it suffers a high rate of poverty and
high rate of crime.“
Within the Iron Triangle, and extending beyond it, the venture
will focus on the Richmond Greenway, a trail project linking
public transit and cutting through the heart of the city. The
city’s Parks Department and local representatives of the National
Park Service are also likely partners, according to the executive
summary.
Valentino said a key component to the initiative will be the
formation of a Green Team, a group of local youths who will
work to renew unused and toxic parcels within the city’s urban
core.
“The vision that we have is that the team would reforest areas,
plan and develop urban tree canopies, work on building parks
out of brownfields and learn leadership skills on the way,”
Valentino said. “This will be a group of local young people
who are trained to be stewards of the projects.”
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