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10/11/2016 03:05 PMOvergrown foundation plantings around the base of Memorial Library were replaced and the landscape design updated recently in a project that brought together a team of the Westbrook Garden Club, the Town Center Revitalization Committee, and the Town Public Works Department.
“The purpose of our Quick Hit team is to do projects that add curb appeal to Town Center, but that may not require a lot of investment of time or money,” explained Garden Club volunteer and Adopt-a-Spot program organizer Deb Rie.
Funding for a landscape design and to purchase plants and landscape materials was provided by a $2,200 grant from the Westbrook Foundation and a $1,065 contribution from the Westbrook Town Revitalization Committee. Services in kind to remove old shrubs, create planting beds with metal edging, add new soil and mulch, and to build a new walkway and concrete pad was provided by the town’s Public Works crew.
“We were trying to get back to the original look of the [circa] 1904 building. No shrubs were originally planted around the building’s base because the stones of the foundation layer were to be shown off,” said Rie. “The new plants include low ground cover choices, the planting beds now have metal edging, and there is a gravel perimeter around the building. It will be easier to maintain.”
Removing the overgrown bushes has opened up views of the building’s foundation blocks and let natural light once again shine into the lower level. The bushes had blocked light from entering the existing lower level windows. Cutting down a tree planted close to the building’s exterior had an added benefit: exposure of a large circular window at the attic level that had been obscured.
The Memorial Library landscape plan also included the addition of a fenced enclosure to obscure a modern amenity, the port-a-potty. To support visitors to public events on the Town Green, port-a-potties are made available, but these modern units and their colors clash with the traditional Memorial Library. The Town Public Works crew found a way to keep the amenity, but obscure views of it.
The landscape renovation plan was developed by Kathy Connolly of Speaking of Landscapes, an Old Saybrook firm. Connolly was also chosen by the town to develop the landscape plan for the new Town Center parking lot planned for Knothe and Boston Post roads. With the fall planting season now ended, the Town Center parking lot landscaping will be installed in the next planting season in spring 2017.
Rie said that other curb appeal improvement projects are also planned in the Town Center. The Garden Club will soon replace all 22 wooden window boxes with white AZEK PVC windowboxes. The AZEK material is weather-proof and is long-lived, with low maintenance requirements.
“The new window boxes will present a cohesive look with the 17 new white planters we installed last year,” said Rie.