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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington, IA 52353
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Beautification commission plants flowers in downtown Fairfield
FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Beautification Commission hosted a Spring Planting event Saturday, planting a trailer full of flowers in large pots, nodes and containers throughout the downtown.
Commission member Deborah Williamson said volunteers planted hundreds of annual flowers, placing them outside the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center, in the garden nodes on the square, and in the planters in the alleys. For those who missed out on Saturday’s fun, Williamson said volunteers will reconvene to plant more flowers from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, May 23.
“Not everyone wants to work on a Saturday, so by having it on a weeknight, we’re expecting to get different volunteers,” Williamson said.
Williamson said the Fairfield Beautification Commission has a number of projects coming up later this year, such as painting the inside of the public restroom a block west of the square on Burlington Avenue, which has been closed for the last decade. Williamson said the commission could paint a mural on an inside. The city is looking into bids to refurbish the restrooms.
The commission wants to add patio lights in the alley between Broadway Avenue and Briggs Avenue.
“It would add to its ambience,” Williamson said. “We already have planters in that alley, so we’re thinking patio lights would be strung from one end to the other.”
The commission will apply for a grant to landscape the new roundabout at the intersection of South Main Street and Libertyville Drive. Williamson said they hope Fairfield can do with its roundabout what Tiffin did with theirs, which involves getting state funds to design and landscape it.
“Another big one is that we want to enhance our signs with better landscaping as you enter the town,” Williamson said. “The sign on the west end is leaning. All the entrances are going to get a refresh.”
Other initiatives that the commission plans to help with include the chamber’s quest to have Fairfield join the Main Street program, a plan to add a mural on the Second Street railroad underpass, and partnering with Habitat for Humanity on its “Brush with Kindness” program to paint, repair and landscape existing homes.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
