ASLA Receives Green Streets Grant For Chinatown Green Street Demonstration Project

Posted by Heidi Schwartz

Bagby Street
Green Streets Project: Bagby Street reconstruction, Houston, Texas/Design Workshop

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) will receive a grant from the Green Streets grant program supported by the Chesapeake Bay Trust, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Chesapeake Bay Program Office, and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

The grant will help cover costs associated with designs for the Chinatown Green Street Demonstration Project, an interconnected series of vegetated systems and innovative technologies to manage stormwater runoff and beautify the public right-of-way in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, DC. ASLA intends this project to be a world-class model and education tool for developers, designers, city officials, and the public.

Design Workshop will oversee the project through all phases—from design and installation to long-term maintenance planning and educational outreach. It will collaborate with the ASLA Site Sustainability Task Force throughout all phases of the project.

The Green Streets grant program will provide funding to 34 nonprofit organizations, towns, municipalities and universities throughout the region to advance green infrastructure practices. This is the largest amount ever awarded in the history of the program, and includes 24 recipients in Maryland, four in the District of Columbia, three in Pennsylvania, two in Virginia, and one in Delaware. Of the total amount funded, the state of Maryland contributed $3 million through DNR’s Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund; the remaining was funded by EPA and the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

“This project is an investment in our city’s future. We want to show that landscape architecture can heal the environment as well as provide a safer street design that will benefit everyone,” said Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA, executive vice president and CEO of ASLA. “By implementing a more natural way to manage stormwater, it will help the District of Columbia in its goal of becoming one of the greenest cities in the United States while also providing a model for cities around the world. It will also make our neighborhood more walkable and accessible for residents and visitors.”