Harlem, NYC, NY
Project EverGreen returns to New York City to help revitalize Clinton Community Garden on the city’s Lower East Side and create an area where neighborhood residents can gather, get to know their neighbors…
Project EverGreen began revitalizing Detroit’s Pingree Park back in November of 2017. Now that summer has finally rolled around, Project EverGreen will again join the City of Detroit, green industry suppliers and volunteers to continue phase II of the Pingree Park makeover this Friday and Saturday, June 8-9.
Pingree Park had fallen on hard times in recent years, the victim of a lack of financial resources to perform basic maintenance, let alone make improvements. As a result, the park could barely be used by neighborhood residents, denying them the chance to enjoy the numerous recreational and environmental benefits it had to offer.
The first phase of Project EverGreen’s initiative to restore Pingree Park to its former glory included updated landscaping, renovated sports fields and pruned trees. Phase II of the project will bring new walkways and play mounds to the park, adding an extra flare that will hopefully connect current neighborhood residents and attract a new generation of park visitors to enjoy this refurbished “jewel” of Detroit’s east side.
The renovation of Pingree Park not only benefits the environment – grass, trees and shrubs in a park are truly the “lungs of a city” – but has the potential to lift an entire neighborhood. Residents will have access to a multi-acre space where they can spend time with family and friends, exercise or simply enjoy the sunshine on hot summer days in a natural green space.
Project EverGreen and its partners are proud of the work that has already been done but we are not finished. Come this Friday and Saturday the transformation will continue and the rebirth of once proud Pingree Park will take another step forward.
We invite you to join us in person or follow the progress of the Pingree Park makeover on Project EverGreen’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Project EverGreen announces its officers and board of directors for 2018. Dan Carrothers of FMC Corp. will continue to serve as president through the end of 2018 when he will be succeeded by President-Elect Joe Shooner of Focal Point Communications.
Joining Carrothers and Shooner as Project EverGreen are Bill Vogel of Spring Valley (past president), Michael Maravich of Sipcam Agro (vice president) and Mike Dauer of Real Green Systems (secretary/treasurer).
“Project EverGreen is fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated group of professionals serving on our board,” says Cindy Code, executive director of Project EverGreen. “Our collaborative work shows that parks and green spaces play a critical role in bringing people together to improve the overall health of our neighborhoods and communities.”
2018 Project EverGreen Executive Board Officers
PRESIDENT
Dan Carrothers
FMC Corporation
PAST PRESIDENT
Bill Vogel
Spring Valley
PRESIDENT-ELECT
Joe Shooner
Focal Point Communications
VICE PRESIDENT
Michael Maravich
Sipcam Agro
SECRETARY/TREASURER
Mike Dauer
Real Green Systems
2018 Board of Directors
Murray Wingate
Solu-Cal USA
Doug Obermann
PBI-Gordon Corporation
Brad Seipel
M/A/R/C Research
Fred Haskett, CA, CTP
The Harvest Group
Kathy Madzey
Koch Agronomic Services
Alan White
Turf Systems Inc.
Takisha Truss
BASF Corporation
Sean Casey
Nufarm Americas Inc.
Scott A. Bills, CSFM
Sports Field Solutions, LLC
George Furrer
United Turf Alliance, LLC
A Renovated Pingree Park Gives East Detroit
Community A Springboard for Change
Planting trees, improving grass play areas and painting backstops in November doesn’t seem to fit with the season when leaves and temperatures are falling, but the transformation of Detroit’s Pingree Park is starting to bloom right before the eyes of neighborhood residents.
Project EverGreen in collaboration with local business partners, including Troy-Mich.-based Magna International, community groups and the City of Detroit, started the renewal of the 18-acre park November 3-4 when about 200 volunteers pruned and planted trees, filled in ruts in the natural grass playing area, painted backstops and removed weeds and sticks from the playground.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (left) with neighborhood resident and volunteer Minnie Knox during the Pingree Park renovation project.
The project, however, is more than an aesthetic makeover for this park, it represents the revival of a community hub that serves as a gathering area for generations of east side Detroit residents, and new families moving into the Pingree Park neighborhood.
“Pingree Park and its neighbors are the real winners,” says Cindy Code, executive director of Project EverGreen. “The improved space generates enough oxygen for nearly 15,000 people per day, and the living, breathing park functions as the lungs of the surrounding neighborhood.”
The renovation work will boost the health and well-being of the neighborhood, raise home values and serve as a spark for nearby development. They will also provide increased safety for kids playing on the grass sports fields and establish a community hub for nearby residents to connect with one another.
Volunteers worked to spread infield mix on one of the refurbished baseball fields.
“We’re passionate about our community and in keeping our neighborhoods healthy and beautiful and we know how lucky we are to make a living in the landscape industry,” says Matt Scott, director of operations for Troy Clogg Landscape Associates, the lead contractor for the project. “It was great to see local residents, businesses and community groups working side-by-side with Project EverGreen and our team. It was very rewarding.”
Minnie Knox, a 50-year resident of the neighborhood says, “This is the boost we needed to help return Pingree to its former glory. Our kids and grandkids grew up here. I’m just so happy.”
Local businesses and Pingree Park neighbors clean up debris from trees that were pruned in the park.
Plans for the second phase of the project call for creating new walking paths, building a grass amphitheater and planting new trees on E. Forest Ave. These updates are scheduled to take place in the spring of 2018.
Presenting Sponsors
Magna International
Lear Corporation
Supporting Sponsors
Advanced Turf Solutions
Billy Goat
City of Detroit Parks & Recreation Department
Cool Planet
Greenworks
Kujo Yard Wear
Lush Lawn
MACC Development
Michigan Nursery & Landscape Association
Nufarm
Pingree Park Community Group
PBI Gordon
Real Green Systems
Spring-Green
Superior Groundcover
The Davey Tree Expert Co.
Troy Clogg Landscape Associates
Weed Man
Food Sponsors – Absopure, Potbelly
Pingree Park is Getting a Makeover
Renovation work begins this week at Pingree Park, an 18-acre park in an East Side Detroit neighborhood spanning from East Warren Avenue to East Canfield Street.
Better walkways, updated landscaping for beauty and safety, renovated sports fields with improved grass surfaces, welcoming gathering spaces, much-needed pruning for the old trees that provide needed shade in the heat of the summer, will all be part of a community effort to improve the city’s park.
A boost to the health and well-being of the neighborhood, a revitalized Pingree Park will also raise home values and serve as a spark for nearby development.
The Pingree renovation project is a collaborative effort between Mayor Mike Duggan’s office, local businesses, neighborhood residents and Project EverGreen, a national non-profit that brings people together to make a difference in their communities through greener, healthier cooler parks that capture carbon and results in cleaner air in the Pingree Park neighborhood.
The Pingree Park makeover aligns with the mayor’s progressive initiative to renovate 40 smaller parks across the city this year hoping to reduce blight and restore community pride.
Magna International is a key partner in the project and previously donated $100,000 to help get the project off the ground. The company’s employees will also participate in the volunteer effort.
“An important part of the Magna culture is to give back and support the communities where we live and work,” said Jim Tobin, Magna’s Chief Marketing Officer. “We also support the development of healthy habits like exercise and outside play for children of all ages, and it’s a great fit for us to get involved with Project EverGreen’s mission.”
Detroit’s Pingree Park will be renovated through the efforts of Project EverGreen, Magna International and local green industry volunteers.
“Pingree Park and the people living in the surrounding community are the real winners,” says Cindy Code, executive director of Project EverGreen. “With Magna’s generous support, this park will get a much-needed facelift. The improved park space will result in a greener, healthier, cooler park, functioning as the lungs of the neighborhood.”
The second phase of the project will take place in the spring of 2018.
Presenting Sponsor – Magna International
Supporting Sponsors
Advanced Turf Solutions
Billy Goat
City of Detroit Parks & Recreation Department
Cool Planet
Greenworks
Kujo Yard Wear
Lush Lawn
MACC Development
Michigan Nursery & Landscape Association
Nufarm
Pingree Park Community Group
PBI Gordon
Real Green Systems
Spring-Green
Superior Groundcover
The Davey Tree Expert Co.
Troy Clogg Landscape Associates
Weed Man Farmington Hills
Food Sponsors – Absopure, Potbelly
