Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Crispus Attucks Park Solar Power Project

As a renewable energy project development company, YCG targets several community-scale projects. The Crispus Attucks Park Solar Power Initiative is one such project.

Crispus Attucks Park is located in the heart of the Bloomingdale community in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, DC. The park is a 1.36 acre privately owned community park occupying the space between the alleys of the 2000 blocks of North Capitol and 1st Streets NW and the unit blocks of V and U Streets NW. Anybody can gain entrance to the park through four alley entrance ways.

Neighbors, members of the community, and embassy employees first started to develop the park in 1995 after a police raid of a homeless encampment that was on the property. However, the DC government foreclosed on the park in 1998 for back taxes, liens, and unpaid utility bills. The Crispus Attucks Development Corporation (CADC) regained control of the park in 2002 after succeeding in getting the foreclosure dismissed. In 2004, the DC City Council passed the "Crispus Attucks Development Corporation Real Property Tax Exemption and Equitable Real Property Tax Relief Act of of 2004." The act returned full site control to CADC, and established the tax exempt status of the land. The park, thus, became a community operated space that has served as a green haven in an urban community ever since.

Learn more about Crispus Attucks Park History.

The park frequently serves as the location for community events such as the Annual Bloomingdale Community Yard Sale, photographed below.
YCG is currently developing a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system in Crispus Attucks Park to provide operating revenues to the park's non-profit Board. Last week, an Agreement in Principle was signed between the CADC and YCG.

The Crispus Attucks Development Corporation has accepted YCG's proposal to develop a solar photovoltaic system for the park in principle and the agreement signifies the CADC's intent to pursue a solar energy project with YCG.

The YCG team is now working diligently to procure detailed designs for the Crispus Attucks Park Solar Power Plant. Implementation of the project is contingent upon execution of a site agreement for Crispus Attucks Park and a Solar Power Purchase Agreement between PEPCO and the CADC.

The YCG team is very proud of this preliminary accomplishment and is excited to be partnering with the CADC on this groundbreaking community solar energy project in Washington, DC. We will be updating the blog consistently with YCG's progress on implementation of the Crispus Attucks Park Solar Power System.

Satellite view of Crispus Attucks Park, 2002

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