During the height of the pandemic in April 2020, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities (PRCF) limited traffic in Byrd Park on the weekends, using road closures to ensure the safety of individuals visiting the park. Gates were put in place on Stollers Lane, Westover Road, and Trafford Road to limit vehicular traffic and allow visitors to walk or bike safely.
Effective Saturday, May 14, 2022, PRCF will implement the additional following road closures in Byrd Park:
- S. Arthur Ashe Jr. Blvd. at Paddle Boat Lane;
- S. Robinson Street at Boat Lake Drive; and
- Lakeview Avenue at S. Robinson Street.
These new closures will be in effect through the summer. Parking is available at Rueger Field, located at Grant and S. Sheppard Streets.
For more information about the department, follow PRCF on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The City of Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities (PRCF) has received funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program. These funds will support a two-year project called The Richmond Environment: Students as Teachers in Their Watershed (REST) whose primary objective is to give Richmond Public School (RPS) students a greater understanding and sense of ownership of their local watershed. The project’s key partners, James River Park System, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, and RPS, will engage our community as a whole to develop an Environmental Literacy Plan (ELP) for RPS that is rooted in environmental justice and is specific to this unique urban landscape, fraught with historic inequity and gifted with wild land.
“We’re thrilled that this funding will continue the work of making environmental literacy part of every public school student’s education in Richmond,” says Chris Frelke, Director of PRCF. “This project aligns with Richmond’s existing initiatives to improve the health of each City resident through access to green spaces.”
Working closely with students, teachers, and community members, the key partners on this project will create an ELP for the entire RPS school district rooted at the hyper-local level that centers black and brown voices that have historically been suppressed throughout Richmond. This kind of comprehensive planning document will positively impact science education for all 24,000 RPS students in the years to come, seeking to determine what environmental literacy and justice mean for our community.
"We are excited at the scale and depth of work proposed by the REST Planning Team and specifically their commitment to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice through the development of their Environmental Literacy Plan," said Elise Trelegan, B-WET Program Coordinator from the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office. "Environmental Literacy Plans are an important strategy for documenting and codifying where environmental education experiences and teacher professional development occur as well as how partners support those efforts."
This project foregrounds the City of Richmond as a regional leader in 21st century environmental education. We are excited about the work ahead, and look forward not just to the next two years, but to a long future continuing our support of RPS as they give students knowledge and skills to spur them to civic action.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday, held this year on Monday, January 17, is celebrated as a National Day of Service. Residents are encouraged to view Richmond’s recognition ceremony, “A Day On, Not a Day Off”, featuring Mayor Levar M. Stoney, Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras, and City Council members. The presentation can be viewed online on the City of Richmond’s Facebook page beginning on Monday.
This National Day of Service celebration is being organized by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Office on Volunteerism (Neighbor-To-Neighbor), the AmeriCorps program, the Black History Museum, and the Valentine Museum.
Parks and Recreation has coordinated service projects at G.H. Reid Elementary School and at the Historic Slave Trail, weather dependent. COVID-19 protocols will be in place at both locations.
The Washington Football Team will continue its tradition of the Richmond Training Camp Ambassador program, which allows volunteers the opportunity to participate in Training Camp, support the team, and represent the City of Richmond. Program participants help the event operate smoothly by answering questions about training camp while also highlighting tourism destinations, restaurants, and other points of interest in the city. To thank Ambassadors for their help in this important role, Ambassadors can earn incentives such as a Washington Football swag bags, daily raffles, discounts on-site, Washington Football Team game tickets, and more, based on the number of shifts they work.
The maps above indicate how the disparate impacts of climate change and lack of vehicular access combine to make communities of color ideal for green space investment.
At a press conference near Broad Rock Creek, Mayor Stoney announced that his administration has identified five unused parcels of city land that will be converted into public green spaces.
The spaces are as listed below:
1. Broad Rock Creek Parcels: S0080418002, S0080276004 (Windsor Neighborhood)
2. Hioaks Water Tower Parcel: C0050879024 (Hioaks)
3. Rear Ernest Road Parcel: S0090417036 (Ampthill Heights is closest?)
4. Reedy Creek Wetland Parcel: C0050992011 (Beaufont)
5. Rosemont Road Parcel: C0060659036 (Woodhaven)
“The benefits of green spaces are irrefutable and unmatched, and it’s clear that not everyone in this city has been afforded those benefits,” said the mayor. “It’s our job to intentionally correct that injustice.”
The parcels total over 36 acres of new green space. This is in addition to the 20 acres of new parks the Stoney administration has added and 287 additional parks acres that will be protected from development through conservation easement by the end of the year.
In his most recent State of the City address, the mayor set a goal of ensuring every Richmonder had a green space within a ten-minute walk from their home. To that end, he convened the Green Team, a group of key stakeholders and experts, to drive policy decisions and lead parcel selection for new spaces.
The Mayor’s Green Team determined, using the city’s Climate Equity Index, that need for green space was highest in the city’s Southside, primarily in communities of largely Black and Hispanic representation.
All five parcels are located in the Southside of Richmond: three in the Eighth Council District and two in the Ninth. In the areas surrounding the chosen parcels, the average walk to the nearest greenspace is the highest and heat islands are a more prevalent problem.
“Regardless of a child’s race, ethnicity, gender, family income or zip code, they should be able to walk down the street and spend a summer afternoon in a welcoming, verdant space,” asserted the mayor. “Due to systemic racism, that’s now how our city was designed. We have a chance to right that wrong, and we’re starting with these five green spaces.”
The green spaces will be designed using neighborhood input. Each community’s vision will be brought to life through the hard work of the participants in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities workforce development program. The program consists of formerly incarcerated individuals and Office of Community Wealth Building participants learning new skills to build a stronger community and improve their future professional outcomes.
The mayor will formally introduce the ordinance at the September 28 meeting of Richmond City Council. Councilmembers Trammell and Jones will copatron the legislation.
The City of Richmond currently uses six percent of its land for parks and recreation, compared to the nationwide median of 15 percent.
Quotes from the Mayor’s Green Team:
Frazier Armstrong, Executive Director, Capital Trees: “Now more than ever, greenspace matters. The pandemic has revealed the necessity of a robust, connected, equitable and nature-rich public realm, a vision the Green Team is dedicated to making a reality in Richmond. Capital Trees is proud to be a part of this transformational effort.”
Nissa Dean, Virginia State Director, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay: “The Alliance was honored to participate as a member of the Mayor's Green Team. We have been partnered with RVAH2O and DPU for over ten years to help create green spaces that will improve the health of our communities and the James River. We look forward to continuing to support this effort and are committed to helping Richmond reach environmental equity and sustainability goals.”
Dr. Jeremy Hoffman, Chief Scientist, Science Museum of Virginia: “We know that the shade of a deep green park can be up to 16°F cooler than the surrounding neighborhoods here in Richmond. Establishing new parks where they're needed most with community input will make those residents exposed to heat inequity more resilient now and into the future.”
Brianne Mullen, Office of Sustainability: “The RVAgreen 2050 Climate Equity Index shows that Richmonders who live in areas experiencing extreme heat, are more at risk to climate change impacts and lack a vehicle are often people of color. These new green spaces represent an important step toward addressing these inequities not only when it comes to access to green space, but also toward creating a healthier and more resilient Richmond for all.”
