Design Notes
May 01, 2008
Dedication of Strolling Park May 15
The legacy of Mildred D. Brown, founder of the Omaha Star, will be celebrated May 15 with the unveiling and dedication of a strolling park in her honor.
The park – developed with the assistance of students, businesses, local residents and the Long School Neighborhood Association – is located at the southwest corner of 24th and Grant streets. Long School received a grant from Mayor Mike Fahey’s 2007 Neighborhood Grant Program to help fund the project.
The park is adjacent to the Omaha Star building, a designated historical landmark in Omaha. Its design incorporates low maintenance and drought resistant plants, along with trees, shrubs and flowers with varied blooming seasons. Noted artist Littleton Alston sculpted the park’s portrait bust of Brown.
Dedication ceremonies for the Mildred D. Brown Strolling Park will get under way at 11 a.m. The public is invited to attend.
“Green Streets for Omaha” Receives Lady Bird Johnson Award
Omaha’s plan for greening its streets is the recipient of a national award.
“Green Streets for Omaha,” a plan that defines a proposed green streets system for the city, was presented with the 2008 Lady Bird Johnson Award at the 36th annual National Arbor Day Awards Banquet and Ceremonies held April 25-26 in Nebraska City. The award was created to honor the work of the former First Lady, who had long been an honorary trustee of the National Arbor Day Foundation. It is presented to individuals, groups or organizations whose work sets a worthy example for others to follow in roadside beautification.
Completed in 2007, the plan establishes design and landscape standards, addresses maintenance concepts and standards, and lays out a process to help identify priorities for implementation. Sponsored by the City of Omaha and Mayor Mike Fahey in conjunction with the Department of Parks, Recreation and Public Property, it’s the work of diverse task force comprised of representatives from the city’s public works and planning departments, Omaha by Design, the Omaha Public Power District, the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District, Mulhall’s Nursery and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. RDG Planning and Design served as the project consultant.
On May 7, the Omaha Planning Board unanimously recommended approval of an amendment to the Urban Design Element of the city’s master plan that calls for implementing the recommendations outlined in “Green Streets for Omaha” as well as the Omaha Streetscape Handbook (see article elsewhere in this issue for details). The Omaha City Council will consider the planning board’s recommendation this summer.
Vintage Lights Aglow in Field Club
The Field Club Homeowners League held a party April 16, one that was eight years in the making.
The group celebrated the installation of 16 vintage street lights along Woolworth Avenue between 33rd and 36th streets. The 12-foot cast iron poles with acorn-shaped lights complement the neighborhood’s turn-of-the-century ambiance.
Officials from the homeowners league honored city officials, Mutual of Omaha, the Kiewit Foundation, the Omaha Public Power District and three neighborhood residents – Libby Barnette, Nancy Gilliland and Tim Holland – for their respective roles in moving the eight-year project from idea to implementation.
The group is currently pursuing funding to place vintage lights at each of the neighborhood’s four entrances and in the median on Woolworth Avenue at 36th Street. For more information, visit www.fieldclubneighborhood.homestead.com.
2008 Mayor’s Neighborhood Grants Awarded
Twenty-one neighborhood groups are on their way to making their corner of the city a better place, thanks to the help of Mayor Mike Fahey’s 2008 Neighborhood Grants Program. This year’s recipients were announced May 7 at an event held in Hanscom Park.
Grants were awarded in two categories, neighborhood improvement and crime prevention. The 2008 recipients are listed below.
Neighborhood Improvement
Bemis Park Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $5,000
Project: Replace the nets and fence for the tennis court, and repair the roof on the picnic shelter in Bemis Park.
Conestoga Place Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $2,000
Project: Repair and improve the perimeter fence and common area green space.
Country Club Community Council
Amount Funded: $5,000
Project: Completion of a three-year project to restore the neighborhood’s historic street lamps.
Dundee Memorial Park Association
Amount Funded: $4,000
Project: Completion of a three-year project to restore the neighborhood’s historic street lamps.
Dundee Merchants Association
Amount Funded: $5,000
Project: Design new streetscape plan to revitalize the Dundee Business District.
E.R. Danner Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $5,000
Project: Provide registration fees and equipment so E.R. Danner neighborhood youth are able to participate in the Memorial Little League baseball program.
Field Club Homeowners League
Amount Funded: $5,000
Project: Addition of historic lights to the entrance of the Field Club Historic District.
Fire Ridge Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $3,800
Project: Add landscaping and perennial plants throughout the Fire Ridge neighborhood and on HWS Cleveland Boulevard.
Florence Futures Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $5,000
Project: Purchase ornamental benches to be placed along the downtown Florence streetscape.
Ford Birthsite Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $2,400
Project: Decrease amounts of litter by providing extra “Dumpster Days” once a month.
G.I.T Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $5,000
Project: Add grills and picnic tables to Greentree Park.
Leavenworth Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $5,000
Project: Create a public mural on the handball court at Dewey Park.
Lee Valley Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $1,860
Project: Install additional park benches and plant trees near the playground area in Lee Valley Park.
Maple Village Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: 4,160
Project: Provide two picnic tables on concrete padding with handicap accessibility for Maple Village Park.
Montclair, Parkside, Trendwood, Georgetowne Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $3,000
Project: Improve the neighborhood entrance medians with perennial plants and shrubs.
Morton Meadows
Amount Funded: $5,000
Project: Replace dying neighborhood trees.
Oakdale Community Club
Amount funded: $5,000
Project: Develop a neighborhood garden in collaboration with Oakdale Elementary School.
Orchard Hill Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $2,500
Project: “Greening Your Energy Budget,” an educational program to help residents lower their monthly utility bills.
Ridgefield Homeowner’s Association
Amount Funded: $5,000
Project: Upgrade playground equipment in Ridgefield Park.
Wyman Heights Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $1,100
Project: Create a neighborhood green space.
Crime Prevention
Viking Ship Neighborhood Association
Amount Funded: $3,000
Project: Provide summer pool memberships for area youth.