
A series of vacant lots along North Colley Avenue could soon become a new public park as the Elizabeth River Project works to expand the reach of its Ryan Resilience Lab and show more people what climate adaptation can look like up close.
The nonprofit, which has spent the past 30 years working to restore the Elizabeth River, says the proposed park would build on its work rebuilding wetlands through living shorelines, installing rain gardens, and using other strategies designed to absorb and filter stormwater runoff.
“We built the Ryan Resilience Lab,” said a leader with the Elizabeth River Project, describing the organization’s 2024 launch of the educational hub aimed at helping homeowners and businesses protect property and communities from flooding and sea level rise.
The project said the lab offers a “learning park” and demonstrations of green infrastructure, but staff say the space can be difficult to spot from the street.
That is part of the reason the nonprofit is now working to acquire five adjacent lots along Colley Avenue, a stretch they describe as a growing commercial corridor.


