Cleveland is one of 11 cities traveling to Washington Thursday to lobby for billions of federal dollars to help transform abandoned commercial spaces into parks.

Terry Schwarz is the director of Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative. She says a national organization called Red Fields to Green Fields asked Cleveland’s to participate and submit a list of projects as if they had a billion dollars to spend. Cleveland’s proposal includes renovating Public Square, extending the Towpath and relocating the port to allow for better use of lake and riverfront property. Schwarz says she believes in the Red Fields to Green Fields concept, but she views the proposal as more of a long-term goal.