Thank you! to the hundreds of neighbors who have sent letters, spoken up at City Council meetings, met with legislators, and taken part in the community design process to create a new park at the Rodney Reservoir. Our community organizing has been working! Now it is essential that we all raise our voices to avoid any period when the Reservoir has been demolished and the land is unused and vacant, which would make it vulnerable to development.
In this e-Newsletter we share an update on the ongoing Community Park Design Process, a survey link to provide input on the Draft Design for the future Rodney Reservoir Park, and a new petition to ask our elected officials to make sure that 1) funding and the contract to build the park is in place before the City starts demolition 2) the City signs DNREC’s environmental covenant preventing future residential use so that we can be certain that the land remains a park.
WHO WE ARE: Green for the Greater Good is a group of neighbors working to keep the Rodney Reservoir safe, public and green so all residents can enjoy its use. Let’s all work together to make sure our community’s health is protected and the Rodney Reservoir becomes a park.
1. SIGN THE PETITION TO ASK ELECTED OFFICIALS TO FUND THE PLAN BEFORE THEY BULLDOZE THE LAND!
Although great progress has been made to develop a design for the future Rodney Reservoir Park in collaboration with the community, the City of Wilmington is moving forward in early March with a demolition and regrading project at the Rodney Reservoir without the funding or contractor in place to build the park.
Neighbors also still have concerns about how the proposed demolition could impact the community’s health given the plan to disturb soils that contain hazardous substances and crush the concrete at the site over a period of four months in our dense urban neighborhood. We need further commitments from the City and DNREC that they will take the necessary steps to protect our health.
Now is a vital time to act. Sign your name to show elected officials there is broad public support for the City to put the funding in place to build the park before they start demolition so we can make sure we end up with the beautiful park we have all been working so hard to design.
2. SHARE FEEDBACK ON THE DRAFT DESIGN FOR THE FUTURE RODNEY RESERVOIR PARK
If you missed the Draft Design Review events, it is not too late to share your views! Hinge Collective, the landscape architects developing the design concept for the future Rodney Reservoir Park, created a Community Survey to capture more input from local residents. You can use this link to review and comment on the same materials that were presented at the live event. We hope you will participate in the survey and share it with your neighbors.
3. NEWS UPDATE ON THE COMMUNITY DESIGN PROCESS
Delaware Public Media stopped by the Rodney Reservoir Draft Design Review Public Workshops last week and published an update on the community design process sponsored by the City of Wilmington to turn the Rodney Reservoir into a community- and nature-based park. Read or listen to the piece here.
GET MORE INVOLVED:
We need to work together to make sure our neighborhood is heard and the city works with our community to build Rodney Reservoir Park! Here are some ways you can help:
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.