James River Park getting $100,000 to hire workers

Help is on the way for James River Park, one of Richmond's most popular and heavily used recreational attractions.

The City Council has given the park system $100,000 to hire six seasonal workers to help with park maintenance through the end of the summer season and early fall, with the option of returning next spring when the need for help is greatest.

"It's a big help," said John R. Pope, director of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities.

Council President Kathy C. Graziano drafted the budget amendment as a way to bolster the park's small staff, which has always relied heavily on public volunteers to work in the park on everything from cleanup to traffic control.

"This is trash picked up, trails maintained, grass cut," Graziano said last week. "All of us who use the park will be richer for this."

The city expects to hire the workers by mid-July, when the number of people thronging the park starts to drop off. "Although these people will be coming in at the end of our heavy use season, this will be a good investment in the future," said Ralph White, the longtime director of the James River Park System.

White hopes to use the additional workers into the fall, before laying them off for the winter and bringing them back in early spring, when the city is working to prepare the park for its heaviest use in May and June.

Pope said the additional workers will let the city focus on work that otherwise might be overlooked, including more attention for the park's trail system.

"We'll be able to get to some of the little things that we haven't been able to get to," he said.

Contact Michael Martz at (804) 649-6964 or .