This newsletter has the latest news on the construction of the new Rodney Reservoir Park, community garden updates, and an opportunity to give your input in a regional climate change project.
WHO WE ARE: Green for the Greater Good is a group of neighbors working to transform the Rodney Reservoir into a beautiful nature-focused park for everyone to enjoy.
1. RODNEY RESERVOIR PARK CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
The City’s general contractor continues to move forward with the construction of Rodney Reservoir Park with the goal of opening in late spring 2025.
You may have seen or heard the jack hammering on the Clayton side of the site, where in the future rain gardens will collect water run-off and send it to the Christina River. Eastern States, the City’s contractor, is breaking up bedrock in order to engineer this green infrastructure.
The bedrock is our area’s famed blue granite, which shows its blue color when freshly fractured. Check out these images from the Delaware Historical Society showing how workers used a steam shovel to break up the blue granite to make way for the former water tank back in 1916!
Images courtesy of the Delaware Historical Society
2. RODNEY RESERVOIR COMMUNITY GARDEN DESIGN UPDATE
The community garden will be located in the same spot. The former apiary space will become a gardening-specific outdoor classroom and workshop space.
Last summer, many gardeners came together in a series of workshops to imagine possibilities for the community garden. Here’s the recap of the community garden design work. Green for the Greater Good has been working hard to make sure this community input makes it to the City of Wilmington’s project team so it can influence the garden design. We’ve shared design concept renderings, key priorities compiled, and notes from our facilitated discussions and provided some feedback on the layout.
Green for the Greater Good has advocated strongly for the final garden design to have a similar number or more of garden beds than we used to have. We have also advocated for the new garden to include some wheel-chair accessible beds as well as some half-plots to make the space accessible to gardeners with different needs. Finally, with the final part of a grant from DNREC, we were able to purchase some equipment for the garden including rubber hoses and watering wands, new carts for hauling, an electric weedwacker and a solar power station!
3. SIGN UP TO RECEIVE INFORMATION WHEN IT IS POSSIBLE TO REGISTER FOR A GARDEN PLOT
Many people have questions about when residents can sign up for plots for the community garden when it relaunches with the opening of the new park. We don’t yet know what the process for registration will be, but Green for the Greater Good is committed to making sure that information about how to sign up for a garden plot is broadly shared with the community. Sign up here so we can send you information as soon as we find out. We will also share the information to this list and through our social media channels.
4. OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN REGIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANNING PROCESS
The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Council (DVRPC) is looking for New Castle County residents who live in urban neighborhoods to participate in a paid focus group to talk about your priorities and ways to reduce the effects of climate change in your community. This is another way we can make our voices heard about the importance of greenspace in our community. Please sign up at this link to be considered; and please share the information about the opportunity widely. The DVRPC can support access for speakers of several languages–more info at the link. It is very important that agencies like these hear directly from our community members. Thanks to all who take steps to participate.
GET MORE INVOLVED
Let’s keep working together to make sure our neighborhood is heard and the city continues to work with us on the future of the Rodney Reservoir! Here are some more ways you can get involved:
Share posts on your own social media.
Visit the website for the latest news.
Join weekly Saturday meetings at 10 AM at the Church of The Holy City at 1118 N. Broom Street. Enter to the right of the main door and enter through the side door.
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