Nut Company Plants Park in Nation's Capital
Mr. Peanut is arriving in Washington, D.C. – by way of his new biodiesel Nutmobile – to open a new urban park, a Planters Grove, in Northeast D.C. The district’s Del.Eleanor Holmes Norton, Mayor Vincent Gray and other local dignitaries will join Mr. Peanut and community members to celebrate the new park Tuesday July 12 with a day of volunteer planting.
The Washington, D.C. Planters Grove -- located at 50th St. and Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave. – is the second of three peanut-shaped urban parks to be built this year in partnership with The Corps Network, the national member organization for Service and Conservation Corps. As part of its tour, Planters is transforming underdeveloped and underutilized urban land into vibrant, green spaces in an effort to advance the brand's values of healthy lifestyles and sustainability.
Designed by landscape architect Ken Smith, Planters Groves are part urban revitalization, part urban art. Each Planters Grove features unique elements that promote sustainability and reflect the neighborhood's unique culture and heritage. The Washington, D.C. Planters Grove includes:
- 39 newly planted fruit and nut trees, in addition to 67 serviceberry trees, which expand Washington, D.C.'s tree canopy, as well as provide health and environmental benefits to local residents such as improved air quality and lower summer air temperature.
- A border of reclaimed porch columns frames the park's unique peanut-shape and highlights the neighborhood's "front porch" culture.
- A rainwater garden collects storm water excess and helps decrease the amount of pollution reaching the adjacent stream.
- Azaleas incorporated into the park's design recall the beginning of America's urban environmental movement, which began when Lady Bird Johnson responded to the plea of local eight-year-old John Hatcher for azalea bushes for his housing development.
The Washington, D.C. Planters Grove builds upon recent efforts by the D.C. Department of Parks & Recreation to redevelop the broader Marvin Gaye Park corridor into a hub of outdoor recreation, civic participation and public-private partnership. Additionally, the Planters Grove complements the D.C. Department of Transportation's sustainable streetscape improvement project.
"The Planters Grove is a welcome addition to a location that has deep historical and cultural significance and fits in perfectly with the District's goals of providing healthy lifestyle choices for residents of all ages for generations to come," said Jesus Aguirre, director of the D.C. Department of Parks & Recreation.