Green Roof Installed on Nonprofit Arts and Education Organization

By Evelyn Witterholt, RCS Reporter. 

Waterloo Arts to get a new green roof and alley funded by a green infrastructure grant. 

In an effort to promote sustainability, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) has created a green infrastructure grant to fund projects like green roofs for organizations. One of the latest projects they are funding is a new green roof for Waterloo Arts, a nonprofits arts and education organization in Cleveland, Ohio. The organization has an art gallery for local artists as well as performances and educational events. 

The roof on the organization’s building had been leaking for 13 years and they had no clue how they were going to fix it. Upon hearing about the grant, they applied for it and were not only awarded a new green roof, but also a green alleyway. 

The renovations will be done in two phases as there are two elevations on the roof of the building. Phase one, which the grant has covered for the upper elevation of the roof, has already been completed. The organization is waiting to secure funding for the second phase, which will cover the costs of a green roof on the lower elevation. 

This green roof will essentially be replacing the organization’s old roof. Sedum trays with succulent ground will cover the old roof and these will absorb rainwater to prevent runoff into storm sewers. Their gravel alleyway will be replaced with pervious pavers, a porous concrete that stores and refilters rainwater back into the soil below it. The projected cost of the project is $232,435.18 with $5,500 going towards maintenance. 

The project is currently in progress right now and is set to be finished by the end of 2021. Waterloo Arts has also established the Green Palette project which will allow artists, or ‘storytellers’, to help turn overgrown planters into art. According to their website, “Storytellers will be supported throughout the process of selecting and preparing their plots, designing and planting the gardens, and sustained care and maintenance.”  

Once the green roof and alleyway construction are complete, NEORSD will post educational signage about the project, its benefits and the grant program as a whole. The grant agreement for the Waterloo Arts green roof estimates that approximately 107,183 gallons of stormwater will be removed from the sewer system. The grant has also been awarded to a local cemetery and a senior assisted living facility. 

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Photo credit: Waterloo Arts