Planters Update
The Grant Park Conservancy has been working with the Wabash Arts Corridor on the neglected parkway planters on Wabash and thanks it for reaching out to its membership, local businesses, and neighborhood residents to sponsor the sidewalk planters in the district. The Wabash Arts Corridor, which spans Wabash Avenue from Roosevelt Road north to Jackson, works to support and promote the creation of public artwork in the area - making it an international destination for street artists and art lovers alike.
The new initiative is very successful in its first year, garnering sponsorship for 25 of the 53 sidewalk planters in the district. The new annuals and perennials will green the urban landscape and work to make the area a cohesive part of the corridors leading to Grant Park. The Grant Park Conservancy is applying this project to the North Wabash, Congress Parkway, and Michigan Avenue street scapes. The Grant Park Conservancy has been successful in getting some institutions, residences and businesses to plant some of the parkway planters along Michigan Avenue and is working with CDOT's GreenStreets to get all the dead and missing trees replaced along Michigan Avenue and the Wabash Arts Corridor this spring and early summer. These planters are an incredible asset in an area that is mostly concrete and asphalt and their impact, when nicely planted, attract visitors, jobs, economic development, residents and civic pride. The minimal garden area is very small compared to the huge square footage of these large buildings and the planters are all the green space they have.
Here is a link to a recent DNAinfo article on this topic:
