May 22, 2019 | Community Spotlight | Cambridge Main Street Unveils 'Green Parking Lot' | 
Photo credit: Cambridge Main Street
Last month, Downtown Cambridge in Maryland hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate their second green infrastructure initiative in the past year. The community welcomed a brand new, environmentally friendly green parking lot that was once home to a blighted, vacant lot.
The property was once an empty lot and the former site of a car wash, with the building pad and broken concrete left behind. The grounds, dangerous and unsightly, were frequently occupied by the church, Community Garden, thrift store, and the neighboring Women's Club.
The project was a community partner collaboration between several groups: Cambridge Community Garden, Waugh Chapel United Methodist Church, Shore Rivers, and Cambridge Main Street, who served as the project administrator.
Waugh Chapel United Methodist Church, with the assistance of Cambridge Main Street and Shore Rivers obtained grant funding to renovate the lot, make it safer, and remove the elements of blight. Support for the project was received from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and the Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT). 
The project was completed with mats that help absorb water that would have normally run off into the Choptank River, one of the largest tributaries the Chesapeake Bay.
“This project was a win-win for Waugh Chapel, the 400 block of High Street, and downtown Cambridge,” shared Katie Clendaniel, Executive Director for Cambridge Main Street.
Cambridge Main Street has identified blight as a critical issue in many areas of the downtown. Ms. Clendaniel shared that this work will be an important asset to not only the Church, but to nearby businesses and organizations like the Women’s Club, the Community Garden, and the Robin Hood Shop. “We were excited to partner on this project and hope to use this type of public, private collaborative model more in an effort to improve streetscape and engage property owners in the core.”
This is the second community partnership project on Waugh. The Church approved the Cambridge Community Garden in 2015, which starts its fifth season in 2019. The garden provides space for the community to gather, grow, eat and share the harvest.
Submitted by Downtown Cambridge