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Are YOU interested in
creating a pocket park, community garden or greenspace in your neighborhood? The following steps can help your
neighborhood get started in creating a beautiful oasis of green for all to
enjoy!
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Choose a site. Think about how you
would like to use the site. What kinds of improvements do you need to make to
achieve your goal? Keep in mind how much your neighborhood can realistically
take on in terms of the creation and maintenance of your plan and make sure the
space suits your expectations.
Determine the ownership of the current site and how to get permission for use of
the space. If you are unsure of who owns the land and how to get permission for
your use, you can work with your Township Assessor to determine this
information.
Click here for Township Assessor information
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Secure the community’s commitment.
One person cannot do this alone! The more inclusive the decision-making, the
more successful your park or garden will be. Start talking to as many neighbors
as possible and secure them to help you throughout the process.
Think about those in your neighborhood. Is there someone who is an expert
gardener, someone who knows what’s going on every block or someone that can let
you use their spigot for water? Seek these people out and get them involved.
Remember this is a long-term commitment!
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Plan. Determine a site plan either as
a neighborhood or with the help of a landscape architect. Also begin to
strategize how the landscaping will be installed, how it will be funded, and how
your neighborhood will maintain it in the long run.
CLICK HERE TO
SEE PAST KIB GREENSPACE PROJECTS FOR IDEAS.
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Identify and secure potential partners.
These partners should be local business, churches and other organizations as
well as various funding and project partners available in the city. These
partners can provide funds, expertise, materials or help to steer you where you
can get what you need. Identify the roles of each partner and secure a written
understanding if possible.
Click here for a partial list of partners,
programs and resources which may be helpful to YOUR project!
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Convene a steering committee. Just as you
cannot do it alone, you also need leadership for your project. One of the best
ways to accomplish this is to create a committee with divided responsibilities
in terms of planning for and working on the project. The steering committee will
need a chair/leader who has the ability to facilitate, network and be diplomatic
and decisive.
- Secure long-term and
short-term funding. Begin to look
at various resources for funding in the form of grants, in-kind materials and
money from businesses. You may think about corporate sponsorship if that
interests you. Also, be sure to be thinking long-term with funding. You
should have some kind of account to save money for maintenance or repairs that
could come up even years into the future as well as to cover probable
liability insurance coverage.
- Hold a work day/dedication/celebration
event. This is a very important part of the process to the
neighborhood and to the partners. This is a chance to possibly garner some
outside (media?) attention, as well as involve as many people as possible.
Be sure to have the kids in the neighborhood out working on that day!
They’ll be much more likely to protect and take pride in their park or
garden in the future.
- Implement maintenance plan. This is a
never-ending job. Before any plants go in the ground, the neighborhood
should agree to a maintenance plan and put it on paper. This could be
anything from establishing a weekly mowing or weeding schedule divided up
among the neighbors, to continually raising money to pay local teenagers
to work in the park, to coming up with an endowment capable of paying
professional landscapers.
- Pursue consistent engagement and on-going
communication with community and partners. Just as maintenance is a
never-ending job, so is everything else involved. On-going communication
with the neighborhood especially should keep them interested and involved
in your project. Also, you will want to continue thinking of innovative
possibilities and partnerships to fundraise as the community’s needs and
desires for the greenspace change over the years.
While all of this may sound like a lot of work, many communities in Indianapolis
have been very successful at implementing beautiful community-built and
maintained greenspaces in their neighborhoods.
Click now for a partial list of partners,
programs and resources which may be helpful to YOUR project!
For more information, please contact:
Phil G. D. Schaefer
Voice: 317-264-7555 Ext. 109
Fax: 317-264-7565
Email:
pschaefer@kibi.org
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