Honorary street signs for Davis, Dennis and Hamilton

only large public park in this section of city, which according to the state Department of Health, ranks high for asthma and chronic other diseases and in pollution from industrial outlets nearby.

Though Hickory Hill still has significant green space, the decision is a clear retreat by Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration on environmental justice and climate change policies that made the addition of green space a top priority.

In 2020, Mayor Stoney announced an expansion of parkland in South Side and claimed he was correcting the racist policies that had prevented sufficient green space and parks from being developed in that section of the city that has significant Black and Brown populations.

“Regardless of a child’s race, ethnicity, gender, family income or zip code, they should be able to walk down the street and spend a summer afternoon in a welcoming, verdant space,” Mayor Stoney said then. “Due to systemic racism, that’s not how our city was designed.”

Opponents consider him a hypocrite, willing to break his word at the first opportunity.

Free Press staff report residents and environmental advocates who had sought to prevent the Fire Department from reducing the green space at the center, which is located next to a nationally certified bird sanctuary that a local family has created on their property.

Over the coming weeks, three Richmonders will receive posthumous recognition for their contributions to the civic, religious and business life of the city.

Richmond’s 3rd District Councilwoman Ann-Frances Lambert will host an honorary street naming ceremony at noon Friday, May 12, in the 4300 block of Corbin Street, which has been designated to honor the late Juliette Stephens Hamilton.

Mrs. Hamilton worked with the Richmond Police Department as a school crossing guard and as a nurse’s aide at Richmond Memorial Hospital between 1955 and 1961. She received a degree in elementary education from Virginia State College for Negroes (now Virginia State University), later returning to enroll in a licensed practical nursing program and graduating in the top five in her class in 1962. For the next 20 years, Mrs. Hamilton worked as an LPN. She was a faithful member at Second Baptist Church and remained active in various civic organizations throughout her life, passing away at the age of 104 on Nov. 8, 2022.

The ceremony Councilwoman Lambert will host at the 900 and 1000 blocks of Overbrook Road at noon Wednesday, May 17, will honor Langston R. Davis Sr., who was president and chief executive officer of Richmond-based Davis Brothers Construction Co.

Speakers told the council there were multiple other locations the new building could go rather than taking a piece of the

“This would never have happened in Bryan Park or Byrd Park,” said Monica Esparza, a community advocate who was a leader in organizing opposition to the Fire Department’s plan.

“But it seems to be okay when it comes to a park in a predominantly Black community,” she said. “And now it is Black leaders like the mayor and Chief Carter who say that’s a fine thing to do.”