Фонд выделил $50 тыс. на разработку плана сохранения и благоустройства территории Эванс-Спринг в Роанок

For years, Evans Spring has been one of the largest undeveloped plots of land in Roanoke and has been the subject of development plans, but it has run into many obstacles along the way. Now, there is movement for a potential plan to develop it. Blue Ridge Land Conservancy has recently been awarded $50,000 by The Conservancy Fund to create a new vision for Evans Spring. They will be working alongside Friends of Evans Spring. The grant money will be used to enlist Hill Studio - a Roanoke-based consultant - to put together a plan for the land. Evans Spring is an important piece of Northwest Roanoke, and people want to protect it for many reasons. “It is an important source of tree cover,” Executive Director of Blue Ridge Land Conservancy David Perry said. “There’s not enough tree cover in the city, and Northwest Roanoke is one of the hottest places in the city of Roanoke, especially on a day like today. So we want to preserve all that tree cover if we can.” Perry is hoping to keep the character of Evans Spring alive while also giving people easier access to nature. “It will preserve their quality of life, but then also hopefully enhance it because we can put some amenities in their trails and elevated boardwalks above the wetlands and interpretive signs and those kinds of things that will really make that area more accessible to the public,” Perry said. He is looking to not implement just his own ideas, but the community’s as well, making sure their voices are heard. “I will say what we’ve heard informally from the community and what was in that previous batch of information that was gathered from them was they want a natural area,” Perry said. “A place to be able to recreate, a place to walk their dog, a place for kids to play in the creek and school groups to come out and learn about ecology and forestry and nature there at Evans Spring.” The hope is that a plan will be ready by this winter or spring of 2027.