The Gowanus Canal Conservancy is a small not-for-profit hoping to have a big impact on the Gowanus Canal. Situated between established Brooklyn neighborhoods: Parks Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Boerum HIll, the Canal functioned as a clear division, but those days are coming to an end. The Canal was designated a Superfund site in 2010 and developers are already encroaching with promises that the Canal will be cleaned up in the next decade. The Canal has also attracted a host research projects, master plan visions and landscape architects exploring the complexity of developing a polluted industrial area into something beautiful.
I began going to "volunteer coordinator" meetings in January of this year, to be confronted with a room of 30 landscape architects, artists and gardeners all excited about the potential in their back yard. Many of the members have been involved for years and although the group seems richer in ideas than products, this year is promised to be a productive one. The season started off with a walking tour on one of those special early spring days when every other day that week was reaching a high of 40 and we happily toured in 55 degree weather on a sunny Saturday morning in early March.
