Elizabeth River Project receives $2.1M naming gift

Pru and Louis Ryan’s donation largest in organization’s history

Published March 18, 2021 by Rich Griset

The nonprofit Elizabeth River Project announced Thursday that it has received a major naming gift of $2.1 million from Norfolk’s Pru and Louis Ryan.

The gift, the largest in the organization’s history, will attach the Ryans’ names to the Elizabeth River Project’s Resilience Lab that will be built along the Elizabeth River at 4610 Colley Avenue in Norfolk. The official name will be the Elizabeth River Project’s Pru and Louis Ryan Resilience Lab, or Ryan Resilience Lab for short. The three-story green facility will be the first urban redevelopment project in Virginia intentionally built in the floodplain to demonstrate environmental resilience to sea level rise.

A research dock on the property will provide a platform for ongoing study and solutions to address climate change issues. The waterfront Learning Park will be open to the public for a changing demonstration of emerging practices in resilience and waterfront access along Knitting Mill Creek.

“We decided to support the Elizabeth River Project because it is the leading organization focused on the environment in Hampton Roads and in particular the Elizabeth River,” Louis Ryan said in a statement. “The legacy created by the Elizabeth River Project’s Resilience Lab is a cleaner and healthier environment for the citizens of our region. We are proud to put our names on such a prestigious facility that will be on the frontline of regional and national efforts to combat sea level rise and changing climate conditions.”

Louis Ryan, the co-chair of the project’s Next Wave fundraising campaign, is the retired general counsel of Landmark Communications, which owned The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press newspapers.

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