City Council Member Bobby Burns, 5th Ward, said he is looking for people interested in helping him create a new organization to improve the parks in the Fifth Ward.
“Whether that’s upgrading and improving the park equipment, working [with] others to plant trees and shrubs, whether it’s helping to improve the landscaping around some of our parks [or] planning cleanup initiatives,” Burns said during a virtual Fifth Ward meeting. “We want to be a proactive group of Fifth Ward residents to do what we can to beautify our parkland here.”
The idea, he said, is in the early stages. But when he looked at capital improvement project funding, he realized how difficult it would be to generate the money to maintain the ward’s parks.
Burns said he thought he would ask residents if they were interested in organizing and see how they can supplement city funds with private funds.
For those interested in being a part of that committee, Burns said to email him at bburns@cityofevanston.org with any questions. He also said he’d like people to meet in the next few weeks.
I believe the City of Evanston has a Parks and Recreation Foundation. Perhaps more energy can be redirected there to raise the funding Council Member Burns is suggesting.