Gadsden awarded grant to establish tree canopy at blighted steel plant property [Video]

GADSDEN, Ala. (WBRC) – A former steel plant in Gadsden will soon be a new area to relax and walk under a canopy of trees. The city is getting $80,000 from the Alabama Forestry Commission.

Tena King, Director of City Services with the City of Gadsden, says the purpose of the grant is simple: the city wants to make the area prettier by planting 250 new trees.

With several businesses currently at the old steel plant industrial site, King says the city hopes to plant a grouping of trees that will create a canopy to provide some shade and hide some of the areas that still have the slag piles that are visible from the roadway.

This new canopy project joins the Downtown Gadsden Greenway project, drainage improvements planned in South Gadsden, plus new sidewalks and roadway infrastructure.

“We have recently uncovered the sidewalks over there, made it more walkable and we …