The Low Down on the Low Line

by Randee Humphrey, Director of Education, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

The Low Line will include many plantings including trees, ferns, grasses, vines, perennials and thousands of daffodils. Photo by Tyler Darden.

Join us at the Garden this coming Wednesday evening (November 19, from 5 – 7 pm.), when Beautiful RVA (the Garden’s community engagement initiative) brings you the low down on the Low Line.  The visionary folks from Capital Trees (Jeanette McKittrick, Meg Turner, Susan Robertson), joined by Keith Whipple from Waterstreet Studio and City of Richmond Planning Director Mark Olinger, will present an overview of this latest public-private urban landscape project, a prominent section of which they hope to complete in time for the UCI Road World Championships next September.  By creating a linear park along a critically important but neglected stretch of the Kanawha Canal and Virginia Capital Trail, the team envisions a “waterfront refuge for people and plants,” in the spirit of New York City’s tremendously successful High Line.

There will be a snazzy media presentation with commentary from team members, and an open period for a “process” discussion.  There is much to be learned from the behind-the-scenes collaborative work of all involved on this ambitious project!  So come join us—these meetings always attract civic-minded, can-do folks who see urban greening efforts as ways of building economic vitality and an improved quality of life for Richmonders.  Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s Robins Room, Robins Visitors Center, 5-7 p.m.  Drop a note to randeeh [at] lewisginter.org if you plan to come.  Not able to attend, but want to learn more about the Low Line?  Contact information[at] capitaltrees.org or Jeanette McKittrick, Jeanette [at] capitaltrees.org