All Over Albany

A vacant lot transformed

Side effect: smiles.

Check it out: Sebastien, Bennett and Mike have been documenting the Grand Street Community Art's Vacant Lot Project with a series of photosets.

Jess wrote about the project earlier this year. GSCA was looking for ideas about how to transform vacant lots into something that would enhance the surrounding neighborhood.

The org settled on creating a park in the lot on Catherine Street (it's near Lincoln Park) From Sebastien's post:

After spending a few hours on site, it becomes clear that this project will certainly ameliorate the image of the South End. One can only hope that it will trigger an influx of new residents and businesses, and motivate current residents to stay.

... community members and volunteers are creating a two-part community park, proposed and organized by Capital Regional Permaculture Guild members Sharon Hoffman & Julia Von der Reith. Half of the lot will be a low-maintenance native plant garden with benches, sculptures and paths. The other half will be a "urban meadow" where plants proven to absorb heavy metals and other contaminants help clean the soil, eventually rendering it safe enough to grow fruits and vegetables. This later process is known as phytoremediation.

There are a bunch of photos at Sebastien's site. It's great to see people pitching in to make their neighborhood a better place to live.

photo: Sebastien B