PROGRAMS

GREENSPACE PHOTO GALLERY

GreenSpace

History and Photo Gallery

Greating Memories... Transforming Communities

Every year the IPL Project Greenspace program empowers a select group of neighborhoods and community serving organizations to transform their community through beautification, pocket park, environmental and gateway and median projects. Check out images from some of our past projects:

2010 Projects:

SEND Triangle Gateway | Gateway Planting
The SEND Triangle Gateway project will create a prominent gateway along the busy Morris Street corridor between East Street to the east and Madison Avenue to the west. The gateway, which will include the installation of 40 trees and over 400 juniper shrubs and will have a positive impact several neighborhoods and many nearby businesses.

KIB completed the SEND Triangle Gateway project in partnership with CSX, and Southeast Neighborhood Development (SEND). It was completed over a period of three days in May including two prep days and one large work day. The monumental scale, beauty and the speed at which this project was completed is a testament to all of the partners and volunteers involved.

Highland Vicinity Neighborhood | Gateway Planting
The Highland Vicinity Gateway project will transform the northeast corner of Capital and 29th Streets with trees shrubs and perennials. The Highland Vicinity Neighborhood is very motivated and will partner with KIB, Near North CDC and the Children's Museum to make this project a reality.

KIB worked with the Highland Vicinity Neighborhood and several other partners to beautify this high profile corner. This project was completed after two prep days and one large workday. Volunteers from Frost Brown Todd helped install several raised planting beds, a crushed stone path, and a several trees and shrubs. In all, over 50 people volunteered at our September 25 workday. This long neglected piece of land is no longer an eyesore and is providing an attractive community gather place for residents and a pleasant walk for the countless pedestrians who use it daily. Our inability to remove concrete on the northwest corner of the intersection kept us from being able to implement the neighborhood's full vision. Even so, we will continue to work with Highland Vicinity in the future.

Garfield Neighbors | Median Planting
The Garfield Neighbors median planting will include the installation of trees, grasses and shrubs on four Raymond Street medians just south of Garfield Park. This is a highly visible area that could use trees to beautify and calm traffic. The Garfield Neighbors Neighborhood has committed to buying a water tank to place in a pickup truck in order to water their medians.

KIB worked with the Garfield Neighborhood in early May to plant 18 Oak and Honey Locust trees as well as daylilies and juniper on the Raymond Street medians. This project was completed with strong neighborhood support during one prep and one workday. This project has begun to transform a barren streetscape and will continue to improve as the trees mature. The neighborhood did a great job with watering through the summer heat and the drought and is very proud of the end result. KIB may work with the Garfield Neighbors in 2011 to install six large historic planters from the Garfield Park Conservatory on the ends of the medians.

Fox Hill Estates | Pond Naturalization

The Fox Hill Estates pond naturalization project will deter geese, filter rainwater and beautify a large retention pond on the northwest side of Indianapolis. This retention pond is very visible from two main streets and is accessible to neighbors and the community alike. The Fox Hill Estates greenspace committee is very motivated and would like to install a native vegetated buffer as well as trees, grasses and shrubs.

KIB worked with the residents of Fox Hill estates and many outside volunteers to transform their retention pond with several tree and native grass plantings through the summer and fall. To date, we have planted over 30 trees and over 200 donated native grasses around the pond. This project will culminate in an early spring seeding by JF New to establish the native shoreline buffer.

Health Net Inc. | Living Wall
The Health Net living wall and native landscape project will help the Southwest Health Center be a model of sustainability as they relocate their Southwest Health facility to Morris and Harding Streets into a beautiful old Masonic lodge building. They have committed to “going green” and want KIB to help them implement their green landscape plan. This includes native plants a green wall and a rain garden.

This project was completed over two workdays in May and June and included the installation of trees shrubs and grasses as well as the planting of over 1900 sedum plugs in an innovative two-tiered living wall. This living wall has already filled out considerably and will be a solid wall of vegetation within a few short years. As a result of delays with the building renovation, several trees were not planted in the Blaine Avenue tree lawn as planned. We will work with HealthNet to plant these trees in 2011.

Bates Hendricks Neighborhood Association | Rain Garden Planting / Beautification
This project is similar although not as ambitious as the 2008 South New Jersey median planting. It includes the planting of several trees, grasses and shrubs and the installation of native plant material in a rain garden built by the Office of Sustainability. The Bates Hendricks Neighborhood is an incredible partner and has been meeting for months and has already recruited neighborhood support and project partners.

This project was completed during several workdays in early June and was a partnership with the Office of Sustainability. This project included the installation of several innovative elements such as pervious curbs and paver patios, as well as a street lights and concrete planters. Unfortunately, due to delays in the construction timeline, the rain garden plugs were installed in the late summer during the drought and may have higher than expected mortality. In addition, the South Alabama Street neighbors struggled to keep the plantings watered and weeded throughout the year.

Athenaeum Native Landscape/Rain Garden | Rain Garden / Beatification

Originally a planned for 2009, the Athenaeum Rain Garden planting will be completed in 2010 with the help of the City of Indianapolis and the office of Sustainability who have committed to streamline the permitting process for urban rain gardens. This project will involve the installation of three paver patios, a natural rainwater filter utilizing native plant material and a native landscape.

This project has completely transformed a forgettable landscape along the northern façade of the Athenaeum building into a lush, community gathering place. This planting included the installation of 3 paver patios, an innovative rain garden and a mostly native landscape that replaced a lawn of turf grass. In addition, six benches, up lighting and education signage has added to the landscape. This project included two major workdays in April and several smaller workdays throughout the year. The landscape has been watered and weeded beyond all expectation by a neighbor who lives in the nearby Barton Tower.

Growing Places Indy Garden @ White River State Park | Demonstration Urban Farm / Community Garden
The Growing Places Indy Garden at White River State park will be a demonstration urban farm at the popular White River State Park. Growing Places Indy has received other grants to supplement their operation but would like to work with KIB for design assistance and for help with building landscape structures and landscaping.

The Growing Places Indy Garden at White River has been a huge success and included the establishment of a demonstration urban farm which focuses on the cultivation of rare and endangered varieties of edible plants. We worked with landscape architect Nick Olskay who developed an innovative design and then implemented it with the installation of circular crushed stone pathways, two compost bins and several truckloads compost and manure. The garden will be complete in late December with the installation of a large windmill sculpture/trellis. The garden became quite an attraction for park visitors and even provided a weekly market stand on Wednesdays through the summer.

Seeds of Hope Garden | Community Garden / Beautification
The Seeds of Hope Garden is a recurring project from 2009. In 2009, we gave the Seeds of Hope Garden a small grant to determine how well they would do. They had challenges but made significant progress. In 2010 we will work with them to build terraced planting beds on a steep hill and install crushed stone paths and benches.

KIB helped Lillian Rucker and The Seeds of Hope Garden in 2010 with the installation of several retention walls, a crushed stone path, shrubs and perennials. Several workdays were held in the spring summer and fall and were attended by an encouraging number of neighborhood residents. The garden has grown considerably over the last two years and should be ready for a productive 2011.

Windsor Park Neighborhood Association | Gateway Planting
This project will involve remaking the Windsor Park gateway at 10th and Brookside Parkway.
This project was a big success and has resulted in a completely refreshed gateway and a more confident neighborhood. The workday took place on October 16th and included the installation of Hollyhock, Knock-Out Roses, Black-Eyed Susan and Prairie Drop Seed grass. In addition, a crushed stone path was added to provide access to the garden.

2009 Projects:

Harrison Center Beautification, 1505 North Delaware Street
Windsor Park Crocus Planting, Brookside Pkwy. between Techumseh St. and Jefferson Avenue
Deaf School Gateway, 1200 East 42nd Street
Grey Fox Wood Pond Naturalization, 6142 Simien Road
Traders Point Gateway, Intersection of 71st Street and Lafayette Road
Brightwood Community Garden, 2868 Onley Street
North Square Sustainabilty Trail, Along Leonard St. between Virginia Ave and Calvary Street
Phoenix Apartments Gateway, 4004 Meadows Drive
Near Westside Gateway, 2236 W Michigan Street
Woodruff Place Baptist Church Beautification, 1739 East Michigan Street
Near Eastside Gateway, 921 E Washington Street
Binford Median Planting, Between 71st and 75th Streets on Binford Boulevard