Innovate, collaborate and educate! it’s a beautiful thing. Literally!
Residents of Rountree have for many years been forward-thinking in their efforts to move into and embrace the future while retaining Rountree’s vital past. We value community, diversity, history, and walkability. We value all forms of life, up to and including our trees, insects, butterflies, and birds. We value these things so much so that we lead conversations in our city to protect and enhance all that we value, in a manner that benefits everyone – residents and business owners.
The RNA board is pleased to announce that the Neighborhood Works Grant program has allowed us to “walk the talk.” On April 11, Rountree Neighborhood Association was awarded a grant through this program that will convert the City- owned sinkhole properties at Fairway Avenue and Cherry Street into a public greenspace. Our goal is to create a beautiful, functional, safe, and educational space while improving water runoff and drainage without jeopardizing the natural flow of rainwater.
The plan is to:
- Remove the unsightly (and ineffective) chain link fence and the concrete channel that currently flows into the main sinkhole and replace the channel with a bioswale. (A bioswale is a channeled depression that guides the rainwater runoff and has vegetation and organic matter to slow water infiltration and filter out pollutants.)
- Add not just one but two rain gardens and tree box filters.
- Build a berm with dirt from the rain gardens and add a concrete walking path that winds through the parcel.
- Install native plantings throughout, with markers for the plants, pollinators and geology educational opportunities.
- Add public art at strategic locations.
This entire project is yet another Rountree collaboration. Together with the City and City-led programs – Planning & Development, Public Works, Environmental Services (Yard Ethic, Green Infrastructure), Neighborhood Works funding and local programs – Better Block, Missouri State University Geology Department, local artists, RNA residents, this project will continue the example that we have established. Not only will it benefit all Springfield residents by its mere availability, it benefits all by setting a precedent into thinking outside the box, outside of the “it’s always been this way” thinking. Completion of this project in its full potential will benefit all citizens of Springfield by establishing a foundational path for non-conforming, biodiverse, ecologically sensible, and health-beneficial neighborhood nodes.
The Rountree Neighborhood Association Board and contributing members are very excited about this project and hope you are too!