Boston, MA – January 8, 2007 – Wentworth Institute of Technology today announced approximately 30 students, faculty, and staff members returned to the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans to engage in an Alternative College Break Project focused on soil remediation efforts. Students will be using their skills and insights to help design and build a demonstration remediation garden where local residents can learn safe strategies to fix the contamination in their own yards. Led by faculty from the Institute’s Department of Architecture, many of the students participating in the project studied the site in a sophomore architecture studio integrated into last spring’s curriculum.

The initiative is aimed at identifying what plants can be used to help remediate the soil safely, especially in neighborhoods like Tremé where residents do not have the economic means to hire professionals. The demonstration landscape will educate local residents on the risks of soil contamination and existing strategies for risk mitigation and soil remediation. Walking paths throughout the site will lead visitors to learning stations, where signage will guide them through the steps, costs, and time requirements for each soil treatment option. In addition, an exhibition garden will encourage learning and exploration, while also creating an attractive civic destination.

“The integration of service learning initiatives into the curriculum provide exciting opportunities for our students to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real-world situations that benefit others,” said Sean Bender, Director of the Center for Community and Learning Partnerships at Wentworth. “Soil contamination is prevalent in New Orleans and remediation is a growing environmental safety issue that provides a unique learning experience for collaboration with other higher education institutions and community organizations.”

A diverse team of artists, architects, engineers, scientists, and community organizations are involved with the project to design and build the demonstration landscape on Ujamaa Square in the heart of Tremé. The project is being completed in conjunction with Ujamaa Community Development Corporation, a local affordable housing developer and community service organization; the People’s Environmental Center, a non- profit resource recently formed by scientists, lawyers, engineers, architects, and activists; and Tulane University’s CityBuild consortium. The Gardens will form part of the broader People’s Environmental Center located on the same site. The center will allow residents to test their soil, and then learn what they can do to fix the situation themselves using methods demonstrated in the remediation garden.

The service learning project began in early 2006, with Wentworth students gutting a house, conducting a community design charrette, documenting the urban site and surrounds, and preparing master plans for re-development of the square itself. This second phase will focus on construction, and Wentworth students and faculty will donate thousands of hours of volunteer efforts. Fundraising efforts have raised nearly $20,000, which included approximately $10,000 in materials that will be used in the construction process. Wentworth students and faculty will continue fundraising efforts to support their Alternative Spring Break trip to New Orleans in March 2007 to further construct the garden.

Wentworth Institute of Technology
Founded in 1904, Wentworth Institute of Technology is an independent, co-educational nationally ranked institution offering career-focused education through 15 bachelor degree programs in areas such as architecture, computer science, construction management, design, engineering, engineering technology and management of technology. For over a century, Wentworth Institute of Technology has been a leader in technical education known for its academic excellence, community service and support for the economic growth of the region. For more information, please visit www.wit.edu.