Project Impact brings $35,000 in rain gardens, pride to Elmwood Place

The Village of Elmwood Place celebrated the creation of a brand new park at the corner of Vine Street and Township Avenue, part of the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission's (HCRPC) to improve the appearance of the community.

Last week, students from Elmwood Place planted a rain garden featuring native trees, grasses, and pervious pavers as part of the Elmwood Place Towne Square project at the corner of Vine Street and Township Avenue.

The $35,000 project will help keep a significant amount of stormwater from entering the sewer system and will be used as an educational and advocacy tool by the local school district.

"Mr. Joe Olding, Science Teacher from Elmwood Place Elementary School, has incorporated water conservation, and life science lessons in the curriculum for his fourth, fifth and sixth grade students," says Catalina Landivar-Simon, senior planner with HCRPC.  "They will be using the gardens in the Towne Square as an open air classroom as they measure, test, and track changes over time."

Landivar-Simon believes that a visit to the corner of Vine and Township shows a clear improvement over just a year or two ago.

"One can note the new fence and trees where it used to be a chain link fence, weeds, rusted containers, and trash," she says.  "And businesses are not the only ones making improvements.  A village-sponsored Façade Improvement Program has resulted in over twenty residences with noticeable exterior improvements."

The community is planning for new municipal parking lots along Vine Street, a façade improvement program for the business district, and a new park for McGregor Avenue.

"Elmwood Place was the poster child of stagnation," she says.  "It was a community that was struggling to survive financially, with an obsolete set of development regulations and no clear vision of what to expect or do next.  Certainly, Project Impact has been very successful in assisting Elmwood Place developing strategic partnerships that help leverage the Village’s resources to improve the quality of life of its residents."

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Source: Catalina Landivar-Simon, senior planner, HCRPC