A conservation authority official is hoping the conversion of an old gas station into a green space will encourage other similar developments in Chatham.
The Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority's Randall Van Wagner says there's a lot of opportunity for greening brownfield spaces.
"One big one that comes to mind is the old Navistar site right on Richmond. There's 200 or 300 acres there that's just sitting vacant," says Van Wagner. "Obviously you've got a little bit of zoning stuff to deal with, you're not going to take up business sites but this one here (on Thames St.), a brownfield, a lot of times you can't redevelop it."
A brownfield is a piece of land that was previously used for industry but has been contaminated and can't be redeveloped.
Last week's announcement of greening an old gas station located next to the LTVCA office on Thames St. into a green space and functional parking lot is the first of its kind in Chatham.
