Greeting and cleaning are all part of the daily routine for Nathaniel Middleton.
Several members of the Clean Team include
(from l to r): Nathaniel Middleton, Charles Wyatt, Frank Smith, and Jonathan Whiting.
We have received over five hundred 'thank you's' in the past ten years for our services from visitors, workers and business owners," says Julius Richardson of his company, Community Business Group (CBG).
CBG is under contract with Venture Richmond to provide enhanced services through the Downtown Clean & Safe program. The program was created by Venture Richmond (then Richmond Renaissance), working in partnership with the City of Richmond. Since its 1999 inception, Richardson and staff have worked to maintain a welcoming and clean environment in the Downtown Business District for residents, workers, visitors and conventioneers.
"We routinely pick up trash and debris daily throughout the district and more frequently in some areas such as the Broad Street corridor and bus stops which we hit three to four times daily, Monday through Friday."
As for the 'safe' aspect of the program, the Downtown ambassadors are the eyes and ears on the streets. "They have a small role in security to report unsafe conditions and criminal activity to the appropriate agency," he explains. Though as true ambassadors, the larger aspect of their activities are enlisted to welcome people at major Downtown events. "We provide directions to parking, tourist attractions and restaurants."
City Cleaning Blitz
Beginning in July and throughout the summer, the City of Richmond, Venture Richmond and CBG will team up for a Cleaning Blitz. Director of Richmond's Department of Public Works, Dexter White says, "The Cleaning Blitz is designed to turn Broad Street into one of the most pristine streets in the city leading into the heart of Downtown."
According to White, the scope of the project "will include addressing sidewalks, curbing, as well as sidewalk-tree well conflicts." The effort will target Broad Street from 14th Street to the county line. Sidewalk-tree-well conflicts will be addressed from 5th Street to Adams Street.
"Richmond is the region's core and we are continuously working to build a strong, vibrant city," White says.
A Clean Sweep: Community Business Group
Contractor for the Downtown Clean & Safe Program
The Downtown Sidewalk-cleaning team collects over a million gallons of trash, debris, and leaves annually. Additional maintenance services include: eradicating weeds from sidewalks and alley entrances-as well as power washing public spaces.
The Downtown Ambassadors provide staff for approximately 1,200 events, with the employees meeting and greeting over 100,000 individuals each year.
The Downtown Clean & Safe program is one of the enhanced services funded by the Downtown Special Assessment District. The district's boundaries are roughly from Belvidere Street on the west, Eighteenth Street on the east, Jackson Street on the north and the James River on the south.
