City of Rochester
News Release
(Friday, July 13, 2012) — Deputy Mayor Leonard E. Redon and Councilmember Carla M. Palumbo joined landscape designers Pietro Furgiuele of Waterford Tilling and Sharon Coates and Bruce Zaretsky of Zaretsky and Associates to dedicate Project Scion’s addition to the JOSANA Neighborhood at the corner of Jay and Child streets.
“It has been remarkable watching businesses and community members come together to add this beautiful garden and gathering space to the JOSANA neighborhood,” said Mayor Thomas S. Richards. “This project truly showcases the many benefits of collaboration.”
Project Scion — created by local award-winning landscape designers Furgiuele, Coates and Zaretsky — is an initiative to turn vacant lots in Rochester into community green spaces that will serve as a town square and help contribute to the vitality of city neighborhoods.
The 2012 Project Scion is titled “The Orchard” as homage to the early days of the JOSANA neighborhood when it served as a fruit and nut producing area. The green space will feature benches and planters surrounded by gardens and trees.
“As the owners of successful Rochester businesses, we are happy to give back to our community and help find ways to improve the quality of life for its residents,” said Coates, Landscape Designer, Glass Artist and Co-owner of Zaretsky and Associates.
Furgiuele, Principal Designer at Waterford Tilling, said: “We hope to have a positive effect on neighborhoods and residents through the thing we know best—the landscape.”
The Orchard is the first effort by Project Scion, which will seek to transform one vacant city lot every year. The group is actively seeking vacant lot candidates for 2013 and 2014.
Project Scion founders donated their own time, staff time and equipment to help plan and build the green space. Additional support came from neighbors, the Charles Settlement’s Project Coach and Foodlink’s Greenworks program.
Project Scion is also supported by the City, Dolomite Stone, Monroe Roadways, Gupp Signs, Batavia Turf, Miller Brick, Fitzgerald-Harris Designs, Lollypop Farm, Nazareth College Greenhouse, Northern Nurseries, Tesselaar Plants, Seneca Park Zoo’s Butterfly Beltway Project, Kinloch Nelson and others.
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News Media: For more information, contact Sharon Coates, Vice President, Zaretsky and Associates, Inc. at 377-8330.