Almost half a million dollars has been allotted by the city of Richmond to help improve the façades of buildings throughout the city.
Almost half a million dollars has been allotted by the city of Richmond to help improve the façades of buildings throughout the city. One of the programs to come out of this revitalization effort is Broad Street Blitz.
It is an effort “to give the residents that have stuck around here for so many years a way to improve their buildings,” said Tyler King, the project manager and one of the brains behind the Broad Street Blitz.
Scott Garnett, a representative of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, approached King with the idea, originally, and it has since grown, with the inaugural event happening this Sunday.
On Sunday “the block that we’re focusing on is a very eastern boundary of the arts and cultural district,” King said.
Possible colors for repainting some buildings
Some of the improvements King hopes they will accomplish include painting, power washing, planting, and other general repairs. While some of the changes will be visible to onlookers, many of the most important upgrades will largely go unnoticed.
The things that we’re trying to address are important to the repair cycle of these buildings,” King said. “You may not notice that we’ve put weather-stripping along a storefront that has been leaking into a building for years.”
Broad Street Blitz is relying heavily on a volunteer effort for Sunday’s event. Volunteers will be divided into teams who will be assigned to specific tasks, each team will be led by industry professionals.
This is the first Broad Street Blitz event and King says they hope to continue working their way from east to west. Every block will have specific needs which will need to be addressed.
There are multiple storefronts in these locations, which lay abandoned. The goal, says King, is to get the storefronts to an acceptable level and possibly bring in pop-up stores in these locations. These would be Richmond stores who would temporarily have a second location, for about a week, in the empty storefront. Plans for this, however, are still in the works.
Safety vests will be provided
Volunteers on Sunday are encouraged to bring their own tools: hammers, screwdrivers, and scrapers. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be provided for all volunteers.
For more information or to RVSP as a volunteer head to the event page
