City Projects - The One to Call

Glenn Lewis knows James Herbert and his Envirowash team are available whenever the need arises.

As operations manager for the City of Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, Lewis oversees capital projects for the department, as well as maintenance and security for city structures.

“I call on Envirowash because of [the business’] reputation and responsibleness with me,” Lewis says. “I can call James day or night, and I get the response that he’ll deal with [the situation], and we’ll deal with the cost later.

“He is there when I need him the most,” Lewis adds.

Lewis began working with Envirowash more than a dozen years ago, when he was in the city’s public utilities department, and he hired the company to power-wash a building at the wastewater treatment facility. Since then, the company has handled graffiti removal on public walls and structures, sand-blasting of pipes and metal playground huts, interior cleaning of mold and mildew, and preventative treatments to protect statues or roadway pavers.

“We still do some power-washing [with city staff], but it all depends on how valuable or sensitive the material is,” Lewis says. “James and his crew have a better idea of how to attack the problem. Envirowash can loosen it up and babysit it, when the need arises.”

Lewis says he’s especially happy to have Envirowash tackle jobs where time is also a factor, pointing to the work the company has done to maintain the flood wall and to clean the now-removed Confederate statues on Monument Avenue.

“When road closures are involved and you have traffic detours, the work has to be done quickly and promptly,” he says.

The city’s flood wall, which was completed in 1995, is in place to protect vulnerable low-lying areas from the rising water of the James River. While the wall isn’t closed often – the most recent occurrence in November 2020 was the first time it was shut for weather since Hurricane Gaston in 2004 – the gates are tested yearly. “Once you pull the wall, you need to clean it, because of rust and paint,” Lewis notes. “If it’s not clean, it won’t open and close easily.”

Lewis says these preventative measures are important for maintaining city holdings. In Byrd Park, Envirowash has powerwashed the Round House foundation and applied a protective coating on the brick to deter organic growth. At the Maggie L. Walker Memorial Plaza at Broad and North Adams streets, Envirowash cleaned graffiti tags and then added a solution that creates a layer between the statue and future paint.

“I’ve been in maintenance for 40 years, and I know preventative maintenance,” Lewis says. “It’s a lot cheaper than replacing something. No matter what I have going on, [James] is the one I call.

“In the position I’m in, it’s very important that the emergency work I assign get attention ASAP, without delay and less confusion,” Lewis adds. “It’s about taking care of the assets for the City of Richmond and our citizens.”