Major greening renovations completed in ACME parking lot

Installed by the Delaware Center for Horticulture

Project will save ACME $1,500 per year

Wilmington, Del. – The Delaware Center for Horticulture (TheDCH) announces completion of a stormwater mitigation project at the ACME grocery store in Wilmington’s Trolley Square neighborhood. A ribbon cutting ceremony and luncheon will be held on July 15 at 11:30 AM. The event will be attended by city, state and federal officials; ACME executives; major media and numerous stakeholders.

The 9,000 square foot system captures an estimated 70 percent of the site’s annual rainfall, providing relief to the city’s combined stormwater and sewer system and helping to preserve the integrity of the region’s drinking water. The landscaping and engineering system is designed to filter, slow and absorb rain that falls on the roof of ACME’s building and 1.42 acre parking lot. It includes 19 large shade trees, more than 2,800 shrubs and smaller perennial plants, a rain garden, and a series of underground holding tanks – while maintaining almost the same number of the parking spaces.

The ribbon cutting ceremony will begin in the Trolley Square ACME parking lot, on the corner of Delaware Avenue and North Dupont Street. The event will be followed immediately by a luncheon at TheDCH at 1810 North Dupont Street.

For more information or to RSVP, contact Wendy Scott.

MEDIA KIT

Press release: ACME Project Ribbon Cutting

Interpretive sign – A PDF of the large and visitor-friendly graphic that has been installed on the edge of the parking lot to explain how the new stormwater system works.

ACME Site – history and features – A backgrounder with details about the history and progress of the project

Five Big Benefits of Trees in your Town – A one-pager of factoids from “Our Urban Forest”, a national award-winning report on the state of trees in northern New Castle County

Hot in the City – Cover article about the launch of the ACME project in the Summer 2009 edition of “The Gardener”

Our Urban Forest –PDF of an award-winning 28-page report from a five-year study of the urban forest in northern New Castle County.

20,000 by 2020 – Link to information about a Wilmington tree planting campaign that TheDCH launched 2010.

Wilmington’s Stormwater Credit – A link to the city’s rate reduction program on stormwater fees for land owners who reduce onsite surface water and drainage issues and improve air quality through best management practices.

Rain Gardens for the Bays – A link to a program of the Environmental Protection Agency to improve water quality in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays.

Slide show of photos – Click on photo below for a series of before/after images as well as pictures of the installation process

Click here to request FTP access for high resolution versions.

ACME Parking Lot slide show