GMR Recyclers and Community Leaders Unveil Conceptual Plans to Rejuvenate South Lamar
GOLD METAL RECYCLERS AND DALLAS CITY LEADERS UNVEIL CONCEPTUAL PLANS TO REJUVENATE AND BEAUTIFY SEVEN-BLOCK AREA ALONG SOUTH LAMAR
GMR Recyclers pledges to partner with City of Dallas and collaborate with neighborhood leaders, churches and civic groups on improvement plan
DALLAS (November 7, 2010) – Dallas-based and family-owned GMR Recyclers, the largest privately owned metal recycling organization in this area of the country, unveiled conceptual plans today to rejuvenate a seven-block area along South Lamar Street, working in partnership with the City of Dallas and in collaboration with area businesses, neighborhood citizens, homeowners organizations and churches. Joined by Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, Councilmember Carolyn Davis and Economic Development Chair/Councilmember Ron Natinsky and neighborhood leaders, the announcement came during an afternoon barbecue hosted by GMR Recyclers for neighbors, nearby churchgoers, customers and employees.
“South Lamar has been our home for 35 years, and GMR Recyclers wants to give back by suggesting a new plan to rejuvenate the neighborhood into a beautiful, vibrant place to live and work,” said Kenny Goldberg, co-founder of GMR Recyclers. “We want to work together with our neighbors and the City to create a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use neighborhood, with amenities for everyone to enjoy.”
Dallas architectural firm VAI Architects has created conceptual designs that propose an organic, mixed-use, walk-able development along South Lamar, complete with street amenities such as park benches, pedestrian lighting, generous sidewalks, bike racks and bus stops, along with street-level shops, art galleries, restaurants. It will also offer new residential concepts while maintaining the integrity of a single-family home neighborhood. Conceptual plans also include beautifying the exterior of GMR Recyclers by transforming it into a park-like setting through the use of meandering sidewalks, landscaping, metal sculptures and the addition of an attractive limestone wall along the front of its premises.
In addition to being named this week by The Dallas Morning News as one of Dallas’ Top 100 Places To Work, GMR was recently listed by the Dallas Business Journal as the 20th largest privately owned company in Dallas.
Born and raised in Dallas, brothers Kenny and Neil Goldberg founded the company in 1976 with just three employees who bought and sold scrap metal on a quarter-acre lot on South Lamar. Thirty-five years later, the family-owned business has expanded to more than 350 employees at seven different facilities. At its South Lamar location, the company operates on 40 acres and employs 200 people, with nearly half – almost 100 – living in South Dallas and Oak Cliff. Seven members of the Goldberg family currently work for the company, including Kenny and Neil’s father, Robert, who grew up in South Dallas and attended Forest Avenue High School (now known as James A. Madison High School).
GMR Recyclers’ clients range from thousands of individual sellers and small businesses, to The Dallas Morning News and national and international companies, such as Raytheon, Vought Aircraft and Alcoa Aluminum. Most recently, GMR recycled materials from Texas Stadium, Reunion Arena and the 75,000 aluminum bleachers from the Cotton Bowl stadium.
The family-owned business processes more than 500 million pounds total of ferrous and nonferrous metals per year, including 500 million recycled aluminum cans per year. GMR Recyclers keeps these materials out of landfills, saves energy costs by reusing these materials in manufacturing, and significantly helps prevent global climate change. Recycling reduces a range of pollutants from entering the air and water. The U.S.’s scrap recycling industry transforms 150 million tons of scrap metal. Approximately two-thirds of all metal used in manufacturing has been recycled. GMR continues to be integral to the U.S. economy, global trade, and resource sustainability.
Through the years, GMR has made contributions to hundreds of charities and organizations, including the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce, Dallas ISD, Dallas Children’s Book Fair, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, The Jewish Community Center, Dallas Black Firefighters Association and many more. Most recently, GMR cosponsored the Dallas: Hope For Haiti relief event and resurrected and underwrote the City of Dallas’ Fair Park Fourth fireworks event. GMR employees also work as “earth-friendly activists” to teach the community about the importance of recycling.
GMR employees even volunteered their own time to clean up South Lamar Street and hauled away more than 500 pounds of trash from the neighborhood.
“My mother and father attended elementary and high school within minutes of GMR Recyclers. We’re a family business based on family values, and we care about the South Lamar neighborhood,” said Neil Goldberg. “We treat our employees and neighbors like our family. When we take care of one another, we all succeed.”
GMR Recyclers is located at 4305 S. Lamar St., Dallas, Texas (75215). For more information, go to goldmetal.com or call 214-421-0247
