When Peggy Andrews moved from St. Louis to Kokomo two decades ago, she encountered a community in desperate need of a makeover, one that presented itself poorly to newcomers and local residents alike.
Now, Andrews, who recently moved downtown into The Residences at Washington Street, is witnessing a marked transformation in the philosophy of community leaders and the focus put on municipal beautification.
Standing in the shadow of the Northern Indiana Supply Company building, set to become an upscale apartment/mixed use development complex meant to entice young professionals currently commuting into Kokomo, Andrews planted flowers Wednesday as part of the Greater Kokomo Downtown Association’s Keep Kokomo Beautiful campaign, now in its second year.
Joining roughly 40 volunteers, many representing one of 16 local businesses that participated, Andrews spoke about the importance of such community involvement, the ripple effects of which she said stretch across the city.
“When I first moved here from St. Louis, I was like, ‘Oh, OK,’” said Andrews as she placed flowers in a circular planter along the Wildcat Creek Walk of Excellence, which she often walks for exercise.
“But I love it here, I really do. ... They weren’t doing this [20 years ago]. Just to know now that you donated your time to make it beautiful, attractive for everyone to see, because I’ll remember which one of these I did.”
Overall, volunteers planted flowers Wednesday afternoon in 31 circular planters, 28 urns and 13 rectangular planters stretching from the Industrial Heritage Trail to Apperson Way, according to Susan Alexander, manager of downtown initiatives for the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance.
Those efforts come as one of seven Keep Kokomo Beautiful activities. This year, volunteers have already completed 1,122 hanging baskets, consisting of 23,000 plants, according to Alexander.
In 2015 alone, the campaign had 386 volunteers who worked 1,186 hours in eight events. Those volunteers planted 1,100 hanging flower baskets filled with 23,100 plants; disposed of 5.43 tons of garbage and debris from local waterways; planted 72 garden areas and cement planters; and planted and maintained 32 sidewalk gardens.
“It’s really adding value to what the city does, and one of my favorite things about this is it gives ownership of the community to community members,” said Alexander. “That’s really important. Then, I believe, all of these folks become wonderful ambassadors for the community and they own it. They say, ‘I planted those. This is my community.’”
It’s that mindset, and the beneficial impression given to visitors and commuters, that can have a considerable economic development impact on the local community, noted Alexander, who cited the number of banks involved in the campaign as proof that business leaders recognize the influence of beautification efforts.
In addition, she said, volunteers and others involved will be more likely to take their friends, out-of-town family and business associates into downtown, showing them the community effort that’s been made.
“It makes us have a great presentation to everyone else that may or may not live here already, that we love our community and we get together and are willing to work together to make it beautiful,” she said.
“I would definitely say this is an economic development initiative in developing our pride of place and our sense of place. We turn every one of these volunteers into salespeople for our community. They are engaged in their community, they own it, they love it. ... It is one of the least expensive ways, gardening, to really make it a valuable look for the community.”
Also promoting the idea of municipal beautification was Julie Hilligoss, owner of Country Raisin’s greenhouse, which provides the flowers for the campaign, including petunias, lantana plants and sanvitalia, or "sunvy trailing."
Hilligoss went on to echo Alexander’s comments, saying she thinks such efforts have helped to boost a downtown that had previously been on the brink of irrelevance.
“I think it shows pride in your city if you are trying to make it beautiful, trying to bring business, especially in a downtown that was kind of dying 10 years ago,” she said. “I think it has helped draw businesses in the downtown area, and they’ve added functions like First Friday, they have festivals down here.
“I think it makes [downtown] an enjoyable place for people to come and shop, walk and browse, and just enjoy the beautiful flowers.”