Elle Cota, Spectrum Editor
Families gathered around tables, dogs moved through the crowd and live music played at Brambly Park from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 6 for the Plant a Park Fest, an event to raise money and awareness for the first permanent public park in Scott’s Addition.
Plant a Park Fest was a collaboration between the Capital Region Land Conservancy, Brambly Park and the Greater Scott’s Addition Association.
Performances included Afro-Zen Allstars, Jared Stout Band, Painted World, Prabir, Tiara & Andrew, Sun V Set and Brian Caperton. Proceeds from ticket sales and a portion of food and beverage sales went toward the permanent public green space effort.
Matt Szucs, Capital Region Land Conservancy donor relations manager, said the festival grew out of a broader fundraising effort for the proposed park.
Kevin and Christy Berry purchased the Norfolk Street property in 2012 for a little more than $200,000. After retiring and moving to Colorado, the couple sought to preserve the green space that they had created on the property.
The property was appraised at about $2 million. The Berry’s agreed to donate $1.4 million in land value, while the CRLC and its partners worked to raise $600,000 to acquire the property. After closing on the property, the CRLC had about $270,000 left to raise. Szucs said the organization financed part of the purchase with a $300,000 loan from the Berry’s.
More than 24 businesses had supported the project through fundraising efforts during the summer, Szucs said.
There was no specific dollar amount goal for the festival, but organizers hoped to sell at least 200 to 300 tickets.
An open house at the future park site ran from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., allowing visitors to enter portions of the property that had previously been fenced off.
The proposed half-acre park would help advance Richmond’s 10-minute-walk goal to access public green space, by giving more than 1,000 residents access to public green space who currently lack it, according to Szucs.
Szucs said the response to the project has been overwhelmingly positive, including from businesses that contributed despite economic uncertainty.
“The immediate response is like, ‘Well, that’s long overdue,’” Szucs said.
Bobby Kruger, owner of Brambly Park, suggested turning the Labor Day weekend into a music festival to bring more attention to the proposed park.
“I suggested that we do something bigger and see if we could take a big swing, get some publicity for the park,” Kruger said.
Kruger and Pete Leblanc, Brambly Park programming director and owner of BariPete Productions, worked with organizers to create the music lineup.
Kruger said organizers designed the event as an all-ages festival that allowed dogs and re-entry.
“We think that we can do this every year and kick some money into stuff to benefit the park,” Kruger said.
Kruger said that he would like to see more intentional urban planning, including city efforts to acquire property and set it aside for public parks.
“They’re going to throw apartment buildings in place, and that’s great, we want people in the area,” Kruger said. “We want more commercial in the area, but we need more green space for people to use that’s just publicly available green space.”
Leilani Leach and Grant Ledford have lived in Scott’s Addition for a year and attended the festival after seeing posters around the neighborhood. It was their first time at Brambly Park.
“We’ve noticed that Scott’s Addition is kind of hot and full of concrete,” Leach said. “It would be nice if there were more green spaces.”
Ledford envisioned the future park as a smaller gathering space similar to Scuffletown Park in the Fan District. He suggested outdoor seating, natural areas and a community garden.
“I’d be curious to see if there’s going to be any further, rezoning of old, like there’s a bunch of torn down warehouse areas around here, I’m curious if any of those will be absorbed by the city to be other green spaces,” Ledford said.
Anne Hunter Saunders and Ian Saunders, who have lived in Scott’s Addition since 2017 and 2018, said the proposed park would add a green space near their work place.
“I think it’ll be great to have some green space in Scott’s Addition where it’s so industrial,” Anne Hunter Saunders said. “Just adds to the community. It’s a nice place for people to kind of congregate and hang out.”
They did not have a specific list of amenities in mind, though Ian Saunders said native plants would be a welcome addition.
Shannon Colson and Chelsea Tatum both grew up in the Richmond area. They attended the festival because they supported adding green space to Scott’s Addition.
Tatum said turning the property into a permanent public space would give residents a designated place to gather without paying for admission.
“I mean, I think it’s a nice investment in the community,” Colson said. “I think there have been studies that have shown if you’re within 10 minutes of a park, your mental health is better.”
The proposed park’s final design remains in workshop as organizers prepare for the formal community engagement process led by Capital Trees, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming Richmond with public green spaces. The final design will be community-led and developed with residents, visitors, nonprofit partners and the neighborhood association.