Rochester Business Journal

A vacant city lot at Jay and Child streets in Rochester’s JOSANA neighborhood has been transformed to green space by business and community leaders.

Landscape designers Pietro Furgiuele of Waterford Tilling, and Sharon Coates and Bruce Zaretsky of Zaretsky and Associates Inc. created Project Scion to turn vacant city lots into community green spaces that will serve as town squares and enhance vitality in neighborhoods.

The project in the Jay-Orchard Street Area Neighborhood is the first of what is planned to be an annual project. Project Scion is seeking vacant lots to transform in 2013 and 2014, representatives said.

“It has been remarkable watching businesses and community members come together to add this beautiful garden and gathering space to the JOSANA neighborhood,” Mayor Thomas Richards said in a statement Friday following a dedication ceremony.

The space, called the Orchard, will feature benches and planters surrounded by gardens and trees, representatives said.

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