By year’s end, the construction of Greater Fulton’s first “green street” is almost complete, but the efforts behind it promise to flourish well into the future.

On the surface, the project is meant to combat the effects of climate change by making the southernly side of the 4900 and 5000 blocks of Government Road more eco-friendly. Improvements include new green infrastructure utilizing permeable pavers, rock gardens and subterranean storage to reduce flooding and stormwater runoff for healthier waterways, in addition to beautification through new trees, native plants, and public art works, to foster a vibrant community space.

For a bit of background, the “Greening Greater Fulton” project was started in early 2019 by Innovate Fulton, a nonprofit committed to revitalizing the business district hub of Greater Fulton; that includes the distinct neighborhoods of Historic Fulton, Fulton Hill and Montrose Heights.

Innovate Fulton’s president Chuck D’Aprix teamed up with Christina Bonini, senior green infrastructure projects manager with Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. Together, they received a grant for the project from National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in 2020, followed by additional funding from Richmond Department of Public Utilities and private groups Altria Group, Luck Companies, and Wetlands Watch.

If Innovate Fulton’s interests are primarily business oriented, and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s are environmental, key on-the-ground involvement from Groundwork RVA’s green workforce — responsible for much of the physical work of planting and upkeep of the green street — is a combination of the two. Their programming offers “skills-based learning for young people to be able to either find work, bring skills back to their neighborhoods and communities,” Executive Director Rob Jones says. In addition to planting all of the native plants onsite, green workforce members were in a unique position to learn specialized skills from Exact Stormwater Management, which installed the project’s green infrastructure.

Addressing urban heat islands

A study of rising temperatures in urban settings led by Dr. Jeremy Hoffman at the Science Museum of Virginia, in partnership with Groundwork RVA, underscored the need for the project, especially in a neighborhood many felt had been ignored by the city for years.

“Richmond is kind of ground zero for the conversation around urban heat islands,” Jones says. “We knew that cities were hotter,” he continues, “what we didn’t know was that within cities, specific places were much hotter than other places. And typically, those tracked with the history of redlining in urban spaces; the history of disinvestment, underinvestment, the fact that Black and brown folks typically couldn’t get loans, couldn’t get mortgages.”

Based on data collected by Hoffman, neighborhoods without trees and more impervious surfaces like concrete and asphalt can be 16 degrees hotter than greener, often better funded, parts of the city. Higher energy bills, as well as poor air and water quality, all have major impacts on vulnerable urban residents who face increased health risks often exacerbated from exposure to rising temperatures.

Over a span of five months, I watched construction progress down the street from my home. Nothing signals change like a chain link fence and hard hats.

For a few years before that, a model of the completed project was on display in the front window of Innovate Fulton. The miniature scale and topographical view of the model made it easy to picture my future dog walks along the new and improved eco-friendly streets, freshly landscaped and shaded by greenery.

During that time, prior to breaking ground, a robust PR campaign — affectionately known as “community engagement” in the nonprofit sector — utilized door hangers, fliers, polling, focus groups and ultimately a vote on the winning design by Matt Lively and Tim Harper for a sculpture to commemorate the green street beneath. Throughout the long process, I’ve been excited to get out and look around the new and improved corridor, albeit with tempered expectations as to the limited role — despite obvious effort — that two blocks of green infrastructure and public art could make in the neighborhood, let alone to combat climate change.

The ribbon cutting

The ribbon cutting was held on Oct. 26 in the parking lot of The Hilltop, a recently opened business co-op and community event space formerly occupied by Miles Ahead Distribution, an industrial and janitorial supplier and vacuum repair shop whose sign still towers overhead. On the side of The Hilltop is a mural by Hamilton Glass which depicts Fulton Hill signage for local groceries, a tire shop along with coffee and ice cream businesses. It reads: “Come in we’re open” in a retro script.

Of the three Glass murals funded by the Greening Greater Fulton initiative to represent each constituent neighborhood, this one seems misleading at first glance, since a tire shop is the only business depicted that currently exists here. But the Hilltop has been working toward that hopeful future suggested in the mural by opening their doors to an array of local vendors and small businesses as a cooperative workspace and market. Glass’ mural captures this moment of a Greater Fulton in flux; it’s simultaneously a reminder of Fulton Hill’s once thriving economy (the epicenter of which seems to have been in Historic Fulton, as reported for this publication here by Scott Bass) while projecting specific possibilities for future needs. Let there be ice cream!

In all the time since the Greening Greater Fulton project was first announced, I’d heard more hot takes around the neighborhood than not. Mostly variations on the “green” in “green street” as a stand in for money, specifically the $800,000-plus price tag for the project; or weed, as in the two new vape shops announced over the summer — one for each side of the street. But in researching the story, I’ve learned how much of the work and value in the green street is hidden beneath the surface.

At the ribbon cutting, eight speakers, a fraction of all those involved in this undertaking, address a crowd of neighbors, new and old; educators, board members from participating organizations, at least one Senator. The new green street is on view behind the portable lectern where each speaker shares their enthusiasm for the project. The excitement is palpable, even if all the work hasn’t fully grown into itself yet. In particular, local business owner Cortney Cornwall’s appearance as a speaker makes a strong case for the road ahead, in light of news her restaurant Bonos Caribbean, that’s been operating as a popular food truck serving Jamaican and Southern comfort food, recently found a new home in a long unoccupied storefront.

Although most of the project was privately funded, RVA H20, Richmond’s Department of Public Utilities’ Stormwater Division, contributed $137,000 worth of funding specifically for the permeable pavers. Those will be maintained by the city going forward, in a process akin to vacuuming, to prevent clogs and allow for optimal absorption.

[As D’Aprix explained to the Richmond Times-Dispatch in the weeks before the ribbon cutting, one of the main goals of the project is to help attract grants that can bring outside investment and help existing building owners become environmentally certified.]

Delayed by the recent drought, a plan remains to plant trees along both sides of the green street before the end of the year. That’s important, in light of 2024 being the hottest on record. In the spring, a fourth mural by Glass in collaboration with community members will be painted on the street itself, at the intersection of National Street and Government Road.