Volunteers Needed to Help Make Phoenixville Beautiful

Phoenixville's New Beautification Committee is looking for volunteers to help make Phoenixville beautiful and inviting. 

Lisa Longo submitted this article which sums up what the new committee has done so far and the things they need volunteers to help with in the coming days and weeks.

It's a hands-on opportunity to make a real, tangible difference in Phoenixville.

New Phoenixville Borough Beautification Committee

Submitted by Lisa Longo

Our Borough has a rich and wonderful history, and a new committee will be working toward protecting and enhancing the aesthetic of our community. The new Phoenixville Borough Beautification Committee is now meeting monthly at Borough Hall the 2nd Monday of each month at 6:30pm. The July meeting is the exception due to scheduling conflicts and will meet on Wednesday July 17th.

The new committee, formed at the suggestion of Dr. Lou Beccaria, President and CEO of the Phoenixville Community Health Foundation, has at its center the development of a plan to beautify our Borough through outdoor art, landscape design and education. With three meetings already held the committee has developed a mission statement and goals:

Mission:  “To promote, enhance, and sustain the beautification of Phoenixville”

Goals:

1.      To foster public awareness and appreciation for the physical environment of Phoenixville

2.      To create an education program that promotes the community aesthetic

3.      To develop public art that both respects the historic significance and the diversity of the community

4.      To secure the resources that will enable the maintenance of ongoing initiatives. 

Committee members were invited to join by Borough Council and include members of the community at large. Current members are: Dr. Lou Beccaria, Chair, Barbara Cohen, Michael Hill,  Kim Feindt, Jeane McNamara, Usha Neganhi, Eric Schmidt and Lisa Longo, also on the committee are Jennifer Logan representing the Borough Administration and Jennifer Mayo representing Borough Council.

One of the first projects the committee has decided to undertake is the beautification of a “Welcome to Phoenixville” sign on Route 23 – Nutt Road (pictured above). The first part of the project will include cleaning up the plantings around it and with the assistance of Mr. Eric Schmidt, owner of Colonial Gardens and a member of the committee, a landscape plan will be developed utilizing drought-resistant perennial plantings. The final aspect will include the actual planting and developing a maintenance schedule and group of volunteers to maintain the new plantings.

The committee is interested in forming a community volunteer group to assist with the beautification projects, a very important aspect of which will be to help maintain sites as projects are completed. Groups that are developing service projects might especially be interested including the Phoenixville Are High School Senior Projects, various scouting organizations and others. Please contact Dr. Lou Beccaria at 610-917-9890 for more information.

The committee welcomes the opportunity to work with other existing groups who have at their core a similar interest in the beautification of our community and invite interested parties to our next meeting on July 17th, 6:30pm at Borough Hall.

Our community has a rich tradition of historical beautification including the mural project, one of which is the amazing mural at Bridge and Main, and of course, the Foundry, here are before and after images of those two projects, highlighting how important it is for us to maintain and support this type of effort.