The George Washington Carver Environmental Education Center (Carver Center) will be the first independent educational entity in Northwest Roanoke designed to attract and teach students and adults from every part of the Roanoke Valley. The proposed tentative site for the Carver Center is a number of adjoining vacant lots owned by NNEO and the City of Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority on 5th Street across from the Coca-Cola bottling plant.

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It will contain a science lab and classrooms to deliver environmental and healthy living education for students K-12 as well as for adults. It will include a working and teaching kitchen to provide education, training and career opportunities as well as locally grown food for a restaurant and market on the grounds of the Center. It will also include a community room and a library, and house two “anchor” tenants, offering additional employment in the community. And it will host programs, speakers and seminars designed to inspire African-American and other students to follow career paths into “green collar” and environmental work, fields that are growing rapidly in our country but are very under-represented by people of color.

 

It is our intent that the Carver Center will develop and offer educational programs that encourage human health, job creation, and social interchange within the community. We also plan for the Carver Center to serve as a community resource and to promote dialogue that addresses lingering issues of social injustice.