Parks Dept. Receives Gold Leaf Award March 22, 2001

The Boonville Avenue Pilot Streetscape Project won the 2000 Gold Leaf Award from the Midwestern Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture. The City received the award in recognition of the project's significance in contributing to environmental protection, conservation, beautification that promotes green space, tree care and landscape preservation.

Ground was broken for the Boonville Avenue Pilot Streetscape Project on January 4, 2000, and was completed May, 2000. The Streetscape was the flagship project for Center City's Jordan Valley Park. The project was designed to provide a functional, aesthetically pleasing urban corridor that serves as a gateway to the Park. Key elements of the Streetscape include:

• New sidewalks with distinctive paving patterns
• Renovated curb and gutter street
• Ornate traffic signals
• Decorative pedestrian lighting
• Street trees with cast iron tree grates
• Improved storm drainage

The Boonville Streetscape project was challenging in part because of the archeological aspects of the site. The project is located near Founders Park, which is the birthplace of Springfield. This made for interesting "finds" of things like abandoned coal chutes located next adjacent buildings from long-gone coal burning furnaces.

For more information, contact: Joe Payne, Supervisor of Public Grounds, 864-1954