CRLC earns award for acquisition, protection of New Market Heights Battlefield in Henrico henricocitizen.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from henricocitizen.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A portion of the Richmond Slave Trail is now protected in perpetuity, after a local land conservation group spent years in talks to purchase it from Norfolk Southern.
The Capital Region Land Conservancy has added the richly historic property to a larger patchwork of 6,000 protected acres. These lands are also known for their ecological value.
“I don't have any problem turning it loose,” said Louis Heindl, who has since the 1970s owned the one piece of the island the city didn't buy. “If the right offer came along, I would strongly consider selling it.”
Parker Agelasto, the executive director of the Capital Region Land Conservancy and former Richmond City Council member, told BizSense that approximately seven acres of the 16-acre island is paved.
Richmond officials confirmed Friday that the city had closed on its nearly $15 million purchase of the long-desired island, which is planned to become part of the James River Park System.
Last week, the city announced it closed a $15 million deal to purchase the 15-acre island that connects Shockoe Bottom to Manchester in the heart of the city’s river system.
Following its release, along with the creation of the city’s RVAGreen 2050 plan in which the city strives to eliminate its carbon emissions, environmental efforts have begun to ramp up all across the city and they have only continued to gain momentum.