Collaborate/ Energize/ Connect 

Renewing commitment to the community

Collaborate

A Washington State regional public power utility with a legacy of service to and innovation in its community has always placed high value on giving back to its neighbors through economic development initiatives and environmental stewardship. In the urban core this utility owns a large, classic, nineteenth-century brick and mortar steam plant. Until the early 1980s, coal and later oil were burned at the plant to generate heat for the neighborhood.

Long since shuttered, hazardous waste from the plant had unknowingly leaked from its oil storage tanks and seeped into the neighborhood’s aquifer. Upon discovery, residential and business neighbors were angry at the utility for the damage and for what they viewed as a derelict property that did little for the neighborhood’s sense of community, safety, or aesthetics. Lawsuits were filed. 

Strategy

The utility responded with a multi-million-dollar urban renewal and economic development project made up of private, government, and nonprofit stakeholders. I supported the utility’s executive special projects team in the remediation work and the redevelopment and historic preservation of the property. 

On the ground, I was instrumental in establishing a downtown neighborhood council made of neighbor stakeholders, designed to inspire active community involvement, promote a collective sense of “ownership” of the downtown neighborhood, and emphasize the importance of a multicultural influence on the city’s urban environment. 

Result

My work with the downtown neighborhood council helped the utility’s executive team win community consensus, trust, and support for the urban renewal and economic development project. The steam plant revitalization was recognized with a National Historic Trust Preservation Honor award that underscored how the old plant had been transformed from a dirty, drab industrial behemoth into a cathedral-bright architectural showcase—no longer mothballed, but alive with people and commerce.