December 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 50

RICHMOND

Confronting the Past, Planning for the

O

Dw ight C. Jones stood at the
n a wa rm spring day last April,
slave jail in Richmond, Virgin
archaeological site of an old
ledgment of the past in a city
ia, to ma ke an unusual ack now
tor ica l
re for the dedication of 17 his
the
s
wa
yor
ma
e
Th
y.
tor
his
rich in
s such as
Slave Tra il, wh ich includes site
ma rkers tracing Richmond's
rket, the inlanded, the slave auction ma
the docks where slave ships
an Afr ica n
American bu ria l ground, and
famous slave jail, an Afr ica n
American chu rch.

" Sooner or later in the City of Richmond, we
will put down our genteel manners and decide
that until we talk about it, we're not going to get
over it, " Jones noted. He later brought the crowd to its feet by
proclaiming that although slavery was a despicable institution,
some good can still be found in the strength of will of the slaves'
descendents. " Because of that blood that runs in our veins, we
will never quit, we will never stop, we will never be foiled, and
we will never give up the battle, " he said.
For these dual, intertwined ideals-confronting the mistakes
of the past and empowering communities and people to resolve
them-Mayor Jones has found a powerful and far-reaching tool
in Richmond's celebrated park system. Whether it's improving transportation by encouraging bicycling, addressing food
deserts with community gardens, protecting the unique urban
whitewater of the James River, or recalling painful moments in
the city's past, parks and recreation are not just a priority for
Jones but are the instruments to help achieve his broader goals.

Called to Serve in Richmond
A Philadelphia native, Jones says his family often made use of the
city's " wonderful park system " while growing up.
" Our family lived in a very tight urban area, " Jones recalls.
" So some evenings we would go out to the parks and have dinner with a picnic basket. I have fond remembrance of the parks
in Philadelphia. "
Jones first came to Richmond when he entered Virginia Union
University, where he earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees. He also holds a doctorate from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. Rev. Dr. Jones became active in the Richmond
community in the 1970s, founding the South Richmond Senior Center and the Imani Intergenerational Community Development Corporation, a community-based development organization focused
on the building of affordable housing and the revitalization of distressed areas. He was also appointed to the school board in 1979.
In 1994, he became a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served for 15 years, becoming further involved in
Richmond's social and political realms. He then was elected mayor of Richmond, taking office on January 1, 2009. He remains the
senior pastor of the popular and growing First Baptist Church of
South Richmond, where his son also serves as a minister.

44 Parks & Recreation   D E C E M B E R

2 0 1 1    w w w . N R P A . O R G

A Holistic Approach
Jones has been particularly active in expanding the city's greenways and bike paths. He established the Pedestrian, Bicycling
and Trails Planning Commission to consider walking and cycling as viable methods of transportation, later hiring the city's
first full-time bicycle, pedestrian and trails coordinator to implement the commission's recommendations.
" There is a huge interest in cycling here in the City of Richmond and I have an interest in sustainability, so when I became
Mayor I began work to combine those things, " Jones explains.
" We are securing grants so we can leverage our resources to
accomplish some of the goals we have set and to come up with
plans to complement our downtown master plan. "
Transportation is just one aspect of the neighborhood empowerment Jones wants to encourage. The 3,000 acres of
greenspace Richmond boasts are unevenly distributed among
its communities, for example.
" Where we have concentrated poverty, there is a lack of
open park space, " Jones says. " As we rehab our neighborhoods,
we want to provide green space for recreational activity. We're
working on a couple of parks now, but certainly we want to do
more of that. "
Community gardening is another initiative. Jones's Food Policy Task Force is developing recommendations to reduce food
deserts in the city. The city also recently passed legislation allowing nonprofit organizations to run community gardens. In addition, the Mayor's Youth Academy, which promotes education
and work skills development, includes a gardening component
where kids plant, harvest, and sell produce.
In an era when other cities are struggling with their budgets,
Richmond recently received a huge windfall in the form of an
early payout of $60 million from a toll road project. When asked
how much of that payment might be directed to parks and recreation, Jones chuckles and then turns more serious.
" The highway has some historical significance in terms of the
ill effects that it caused to neighborhoods, " Jones explains. " We
want to make sure that somehow, some way, we honor the fact
that now that we are getting some money back, we do something
in those neighborhoods. We also want an AAA bond rating and
that's going to require us to have an undesignated fund balance
of 10 percent of our budget. So, we probably will put some money



December 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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