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Riverside village officials and community members are coming together to garden in hopes of revitalizing their downtown.
Riverside Springs Ahead, a $5,000 project approved at Riverside’s March 1 board meeting, will refurbish 22 planters in the Burlington/Riverside downtown area starting at the end of this month.
The project is expected to be completed in May.
The village will be removing eight current planters, as those planters block pedestrian exits from cars, preventing people from parking in those spaces and visiting the downtown area.
The planters are 5- to 6-feet wide and 10 to 20 feet long, and they are within the cement sidewalks on Riverside and Burlington roads.
Terri Lynne-Culloden, a Landscape Advisory commissioner and an avid gardener, is leading the project.
“I’m a big gardener, and I was looking around at the village parks, and noticing that many of our planters don’t have defined plants,” Lynne-Culloden said. “Some have mud, some have weeds and some have no plants at all. We have businesses in Riverside that are really starting to excel, and I didn’t feel that the planter beds reflected what a vibrant community we had.”
During the course of five work days starting March 31, residents and Landscape Advisory Commission members will clean up the existing planters, add nutrients to the soil, dig up existing plants and transfer those plants and purchased seedlings to pots so they can grow, and put the plants in during a work day in May.
Lynne-Culloden said she is very excited about the community’s involvement.
“We have members of the Garden Club, the Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Olmsted Society, and Riverside Brookfield High School’s SEE team signed up to help — and anyone can volunteer,” Lynne-Culloden said. “We’re such a small, close-knit community. If we can get grassroots involvement, we can have a big impact on improving the look of our downtown area. This project is going to pull the community together toward the common good and show what community spirit and volunteerism can really do.”
Jame Holt, an RB biology teacher and one of the SEE Team teachers, said the project will be an outdoor classroom for his students.
“It’s part of our goal to get students outside and active, participating in biodiversity related projects,” Holt said. “In our current unit, we’re talking about how genetic diversity and biodiversity are important, especially with native species, so this is a perfect extension of our classwork.”
Riverside village officials and community members are coming together to garden in hopes of revitalizing their downtown.
Riverside Springs Ahead, a $5,000 project approved at Riverside’s March 1 board meeting, will refurbish 22 planters in the Burlington/Riverside downtown area starting at the end of this month.
The project is expected to be completed in May.
The village will be removing eight current planters, as those planters block pedestrian exits from cars, preventing people from parking in those spaces and visiting the downtown area.
The planters are 5- to 6-feet wide and 10 to 20 feet long, and they are within the cement sidewalks on Riverside and Burlington roads.
Terri Lynne-Culloden, a Landscape Advisory commissioner and an avid gardener, is leading the project.
“I’m a big gardener, and I was looking around at the village parks, and noticing that many of our planters don’t have defined plants,” Lynne-Culloden said. “Some have mud, some have weeds and some have no plants at all. We have businesses in Riverside that are really starting to excel, and I didn’t feel that the planter beds reflected what a vibrant community we had.”
During the course of five work days starting March 31, residents and Landscape Advisory Commission members will clean up the existing planters, add nutrients to the soil, dig up existing plants and transfer those plants and purchased seedlings to pots so they can grow, and put the plants in during a work day in May.
Lynne-Culloden said she is very excited about the community’s involvement.
“We have members of the Garden Club, the Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Olmsted Society, and Riverside Brookfield High School’s SEE team signed up to help — and anyone can volunteer,” Lynne-Culloden said. “We’re such a small, close-knit community. If we can get grassroots involvement, we can have a big impact on improving the look of our downtown area. This project is going to pull the community together toward the common good and show what community spirit and volunteerism can really do.”
Jame Holt, an RB biology teacher and one of the SEE Team teachers, said the project will be an outdoor classroom for his students.
“It’s part of our goal to get students outside and active, participating in biodiversity related projects,” Holt said. “In our current unit, we’re talking about how genetic diversity and biodiversity are important, especially with native species, so this is a perfect extension of our classwork.”
The LAC is looking for Riverside residents to donate native plant species to the project.
“We’re sending out flyers and e-mail letting people know what we’re looking for, and a list can be found on the village Web site,” Lynne-Culloden said. “We’re looking for reliable perennials that are tolerant of drought and salt, like the black-eyed susan, cone flower, liatris, reed grass, and Stella D’Oro day lilies.”
The community will also be involved in maintenance once the project is completed.
“The Public Works Department will have seasonal laborers water the plants, and we will have volunteer groups sign up for a three hour time slot once per month from June to October to do the weeding,” Lynne-Culloden said.
Village President Michael Gorman said the project is similar to the Arcade Building rehab in that each person who volunteers will feel like they own part of the area.
“Just like with the Arcade, with one brushstroke, the area belonged to them,” Gorman said. “This time, with one plant, it will become a part of them. People are taking pride in their community.”
Gorman said the new landscape could bring more visitors to the downtown area and boost the central business district.
“A welcoming landscape in the business district will encourage shopping in Riverside,” Gorman said. “It’s going to make it more accessible to our residents and visitors. It will be more welcoming to patrons and attractive to new businesses.”
