Project Greenspace supports neighborhood development

By Carl Corder

Over 12 years ago KIB partnered with Indianapolis Power & Light Company and the City of Indianapolis to create IPL Project Greenspace, an organization that works with neighborhoods, schools, and churches to develop vacant lots into parks, gardens, and outdoor community centers. Project Greenspace and willing neighborhoods in Indianapolis are responsible for several spectacular land developments, that, in return, develop the communities around them.

Phil Schaefer, KIB’ s vice-president of programs and an Old Northside resident, believes these renovations not only enhance a neighborhood’ s physical aspects, but the relationships between neighbors as well. “IPL Project Greenspace brings people together and gives them a tangible result and improvement to their neighborhood,” Schaefer said.

KIB provides project management grants, tools, trucks, and landscape architecture to best fit the neighborhood; residents, as well as volunteers from around the community, create the project. The parks and gardens replace vacant areas that would otherwise facilitate littering, illegal dumping, or worse.

Eric Scott, a resident of Indianapolis and a veteran of IPL Project Greenspace, helped build a pocket park – the Paige Booker Memorial Park –in his neighborhood on Parker Avenue near 10th and Rural streets. The location was once a rental property, but the tenants burned down the house after being evicted. Now the park hosts barbecues and neighborhood get-togethers, offers swings and slides for the children, and reveals native flora and horticulture.

“My children know who is responsible for the park: they put their own labor into moving mulch and planting trees – they know what is expected of them in the community and the rewards that come from it,” Scott said. “Our neighborhood had the labor, but without IPL and KIB, we could never have gotten the materials or resources together to do something of this magnitude.”

KIB is currently working with other neighborhoods to further Project Greenspace’ s goal of creating greener neighborhoods in urban Indianapolis.

Julie Rhodes, a resident of Cottage Home, is working with her neighbors and IPL Project Greenspace now to complete a park. Rhodes began talking with her neighborhood in 2007 to figure out a way to encourage families to stay in the community, and moved towards building a playground. Rhodes knew of KIB’ s commitment to Indianapolis’ urban neighborhoods and initiated the partnership.

“Over time we continued the process of getting more people to understand what the community space could mean to them. It wasn’t just about families who had kids, but people who had dogs, or wanted a quiet place to read, or people who wanted to garden; so, we got more and more interest from the community at large,” Rhodes said.

PL Project Greenspace encourages long-term development in Indianapolis. These vacant, used, and undervalued places are transformed into beautiful places that build community pride and add value to the neighborhoods across Indianapolis.

Scott said that when Paige Booker Memorial Park was built, “we showed the city that not only did we care, but cared enough to do something about it.”

Applications for 2010 projects are due on Friday, Aug. 7. For more information about IPL Project Greenspace, or to apply for a Pocket Park or Gateway, check out www.kibi.org or contact Phil Schaefer at 264-7555 or pschaefer@kibi.org.

Renovation gains honor for ‘green’ headquarters

Keep Indianapolis Beautiful has become the state’s first civic nonprofit to receive a “Gold” Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

IB gained the distinction for its year-old headquarters in Fountain Square, a building which formerly a contaminated property and abandoned warehouse at the corner of Fletcher and Shelby streets.

The LEED system is the Building Council’s leading rating system for designing and constructing the world’s greenest, most energy efficient, and high performing buildings.

“In the work that KIB does, we aim to make an aesthetic, human and environmental impact, said President David Forsell. “Choosing green design for our new office was an incredible way for KIB to embody its mission.”

KIB’s headquarters was designed by RATIO Architects and Synthesis Architecture, and built by Shiel Sexton Co. The certification was based on a number of green design and construction features that positively impact the project itself and the broader community, Forsell said.