Downtown Christmas Trees Recycled for Corridor Improvement Project on North Side
For the third year in a row, Youngstown CityScape has donated nearly 40 miniature evergreen trees to the Mahoning County Land Bank for use in vacant land beautification.
The trees, planted in downtown Youngstown planters for the 2019 Christmas season, will be replanted at vacant lots on Elm Street and Ohio Avenue on the city’s North Side, the focus area for the Land Bank’s new corridor improvement project. The project aims to help revitalize a series of vacant, parallel lots with native plants, trees, flowers and shrubs.
While the Land Bank has always utilized greening strategies, this is the first project that will incorporate native plants, which will not only beautify the once-vacant land but also will help improve the ecosystem.
The Land Bank has contracted Danielle Lewis, who has a background in botany and biology, to work with the nonprofit to create a greening guide for several projects in the works – starting with this one.
“Much of our revitalization work involves repurposing land through greening efforts,” said Debora Flora, Land Bank executive director. “We saw this opportunity to partner with Danielle to bring land back to life by adding native plants and landscaping. It requires a little more planning up front initially, but it pays off because these native plants, trees, shrubs and other greenery also require less maintenance or up-keep.
“We’re very excited about this project and we hope to soon have more information and ways to get the community and neighborhood groups involved, too.”
The Land Bank is seeking financial support for the initial phase of the corridor improvement project. If you are interested in learning more, please contact us.
The Land Bank would like to thank Municipal Action Corporation, Ltd., a landscaping company, and the Community Corrections Association, Inc. for providing labor to remove the trees and transportation to replant them.
Pictured above are Gene Shonce (above, left), program supervisor at Community Corrections Association, and Maciek Adamczak, owner of Municipal Action Corporation, Ltd., combined their work forces to remove Christmas trees from downtown planters and transport them to Youngstown’s North Side, where they will be recycled and replanted.