March 29, 2024
Annapolis, US 51 F

Two downtown Annapolis groups raise $17,500 for downtown Annapolis beautification projects

The fall season is the perfect time to do landscaping and beautification projects.  The cooler temperatures and the rainy fall season give the plants a chance to get established before the summer heat returns next year.

Both the Annapolis Arts District and the Downtown Annapolis Partnership has surveyed the downtown area to look for areas that needed the most attention for sprucing up with plants and landscaping. They identified four areas that needed attention and raised $17,500 this year towards improving those four locations this fall.  “The beauty of the town is one of the many reasons people visit downtown Annapolis and we want to help keep Annapolis beautiful” says Erik Evans the Executive Director of both the Downtown Annapolis Partnership and the Annapolis Arts District.

Gotts Court Garage is the first location that will be cleaned up and work started this week.  Most of the landscaping in that area had died over the years and some invasive trees and vines were growing up in the landscaping areas on the sides of the parking garage. There were also pallets and other trash around the property that need to be removed. The dead and sick plantings along with the invasive trees and vines were removed and new landscaping and mulch are being installed.  This will improve the grounds around one of the City’s most popular public parking garages.  The value of the donation to the City for this project is $5000.

Next week near the intersection of Calvert Street and Northwest West Street contractors will remove some of the invasive trees and vines around the new mural and fence located between St Anne’s Cemetery and the Anne Arundel County parking lot.  New landscaping will go in along the property line near the new mural on the St Anne’s Cemetery side of the fence.  This project will improve sightlines into the cemetery, reduce stormwater runoff, and improve beautification near the Clay Street community.  The value of the donation for this project to St Anne’s Cemetery is $5000.

Two additional landscaping projects that the City is currently working on landscaping designs for will be Memorial Circle at the bottom of Main Street and Westgate Circle next to the Westin Hotel.  Both traffic circles have large unplanted bare dirt areas that need landscaping to reduce runoff and improve the beautification of the area.  Both traffic circles are high visibility focus points for people navigating the downtown area. The City hopes to move forward on these two landscaping projects quickly.  The value of the donation to the City for these projects is $7500.

These build upon the $10,000 in new landscaping donated and installed last year on W Washington Street and Clay Street around the County-owned Whitmore Parking Garage.  This project was a joint effort of Anne Arundel County and the Annapolis Arts District.  This project replaced landscaping that was overgrown or in poor health and improved the beautification of two of the three entrances to the historic Clay Street community.

“We look forward to continually improving and greening these areas to make Annapolis even more beautiful and inviting to our residents and visitors” says Erik Evans “There are many opportunities where we can work together with local governments and private property owners to keep our city a beautiful place to shop, dine, and stroll.  Both organizations are 501c3 nonprofits and are accepting donations from the public that wish to contribute to these or other beautification projects in the downtown Annapolis area.

Funding for these four projects came from the Keep Maryland Beautiful program and BGE.

Previous Article

11 tires and rims stolen from vehicles, Annapolis Police are investigating

Next Article

MHEC supports Governor Hogan’s #MasksOnMaryland campaign

You might be interested in …