Project team

Head: Stockyard Redevelopment Organization (SRO)

Partners: The Neighborhoods Together Block Club, the New Hope Community Garden, the Community Service

Project description and goals

The project proposes a controlled phytoremediation experiment testing the effects of lead abatement using a variety of techniques.  The site—once host to community garden—will undergo a several-year transition period meant to alleviate known lead concerns, while simultaneously regenerating a tract of community land so as to return its ecological health and vegetative viability. Goals of the project include adding to the body of knowledge regarding phytoremediation, as well as providing for a physical sign of urban restoration through the remediation of an urban tract.

Existing conditions

The site (006-30-009 and 006-30-010) is a former community garden that has returned to disuse due to neighborhood concerns of lead contamination.  The site is 8,580 sq. ft., and is located along Clark Ave. in Cleveland’s Stockyard neighborhood. The location provides high visibility, facilitating the project’s goal of changing minds through the physical presence of a lot’s restoration.  Given the lot’s history as a garden, amenities still exist including signage, a bench, and a flower bed.

Proposed interventions

The intervention will be broken into phases divided over the course of several years.  Year 1 involves developing a controlled lab to measure the effects of phytoremediation using the guidance of OSU extension. Several methods will be used including: a biomass crop of sunflowers and tef with the potential for bio-fuel; a crop of lettuce to determine food production potential; a crop of mustard plants; and a native flower crop such as Ratibida. At the end of the first season crops will be tested for lead pick-up.  Year 2 to 4 involves a replication of Year 1, with the exception that those soils remediated will be returned to use for community gardening. 

Site maintenance

Maintenance schedules will be developed to coordinate the efforts between SRO and the participating block clubs.  Supplementing these efforts will be services offered by the Court Community Service.  Watering will be provided by a nearby fire hydrant.