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2013 is a long way off, but Pratt residents who love the greener aspects of downtown should start imagining now what they want in the center of their community.
The planning process for a downtown beautification project won’t begin immediately, but with grants to be written, applied for and granted or rejected, the design may tilt one way or another in a short amount of time.
Advocates for any and all schemes should be ready.
City officials touched briefly on the matter Monday night when Kathy Stewart and Mark Ploger presented a plan from the K-State Extension Master Gardeners program to place species identification markers at the base of downtown trees. The Commission approved the project and Mayor Bill Hlavachick invited the Master Gardeners group to provide input for any downtown beautification project, if and when it becomes a reality.
That’s good news for tree lovers because trees are not universally appreciated, especially in a downtown setting.
Some Pratt business owners dislike the trees because they obscure storefronts and signs. The leaves they drop in fall litter the sidewalks and get blown by the Kansas wind into their stores. One variety drops annoying berries that squash underfoot and get tracked inside.
City officials, some of them, also see better alternatives for making the city center attractive. The trees take extra effort to maintain, and they have a bad habit of disrupting water lines and power lines.
But any community that claims to be a Tree City USA should know better. There’s nothing like the right variety of tree to make a downtown appear inviting. They make shopping cooler, shadier and less stressful, and that will be especially important after Main Street’s bricks are gone and replaced in 2011 with a vast, glaring expanse of sunbaked concrete.
City officials say they don’t plan on considering downtown beautification until after the Main Street projects are over, and the next round of grants won’t be available until 2013. It’s never too soon, however, to encourage them to put a little of that grant green into something that’s really green.
Yes, trees are a hassle, but a hassle well worth it.
2013 is a long way off, but Pratt residents who love the greener aspects of downtown should start imagining now what they want in the center of their community.
The planning process for a downtown beautification project won’t begin immediately, but with grants to be written, applied for and granted or rejected, the design may tilt one way or another in a short amount of time.
Advocates for any and all schemes should be ready.
City officials touched briefly on the matter Monday night when Kathy Stewart and Mark Ploger presented a plan from the K-State Extension Master Gardeners program to place species identification markers at the base of downtown trees. The Commission approved the project and Mayor Bill Hlavachick invited the Master Gardeners group to provide input for any downtown beautification project, if and when it becomes a reality.
That’s good news for tree lovers because trees are not universally appreciated, especially in a downtown setting.
Some Pratt business owners dislike the trees because they obscure storefronts and signs. The leaves they drop in fall litter the sidewalks and get blown by the Kansas wind into their stores. One variety drops annoying berries that squash underfoot and get tracked inside.
City officials, some of them, also see better alternatives for making the city center attractive. The trees take extra effort to maintain, and they have a bad habit of disrupting water lines and power lines.
But any community that claims to be a Tree City USA should know better. There’s nothing like the right variety of tree to make a downtown appear inviting. They make shopping cooler, shadier and less stressful, and that will be especially important after Main Street’s bricks are gone and replaced in 2011 with a vast, glaring expanse of sunbaked concrete.
City officials say they don’t plan on considering downtown beautification until after the Main Street projects are over, and the next round of grants won’t be available until 2013. It’s never too soon, however, to encourage them to put a little of that grant green into something that’s really green.
Yes, trees are a hassle, but a hassle well worth it.
