Historical May 1983 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Project Flowershower will add over 2 million flowers to the landscape of St. Louis. Working with the public, Catholic and Lutheran schools, Operation Brightside has distributed 12 flowers to each student, to be grown in their classrooms and planted outside on schoolgrounds, vacant lots and public areas.
This will total over 1 million flowers.
Another million flowers will be planted by neighborhood groups during Project Blitz, summer youth during Project Mainstreet and Parks Department employees for special arterial street plantings. Half barrels planted with red petunias will be offered for sale to businesses for $25 each. Project Mainstreet will return again with the 500 summer youth funded by the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (S.L.A.T.E.). Special supervision will again be provided by a $90,000 grant from Civic Progress.
The “red shirts,” as they became known, will be cutting grass, pulling weeds, sweeping sidewalks, planting flowers and generally sprucing up the 200 miles of arterial city streets. Project Greenlot continues the cleaning. grading and seeding of the city’s 18,000 vacant lots.
In 1982 Operating Engineers Local 513, using heavy equipment provided by private contractors graded 900 vacant lots.
Another 800 lots were completed by private contractors.
In 1983, 4,000 lots will be graded and seeded, bringing the total to 5,700 completed lots.
These lots will be cut every three weeks during the summer.
If owners do not maintain their lots, they will be billed for cutting services. . Project Paperchase began last fall and involves 78,500 students in public, Catholic and Lutheran schools learning about litter problems and preventative methods through educational curriculum and leadership programs, as well as “Applied Civics” programs in which students participate in special clean-up projects.
Funding for Operation Brightside has largely been provided by private businesses both large and small, who have donated 1.4 million dollars in cash and in-kind contributions in 1982. CDA funding totalled $240,000.
This is a 6 to 1 ratio of private to public money. Operation Brightside will continue to support city dwellers in their efforts to clean up and beautify their city with innovative programs like “Blitz,” “Mainstreet,”” “Paperchase.” “Greenlot,” and “Flower Shower.” The key to the success of Operation Brightside is the tremendous cooperative efforts of the people of our city and their dauntless spirit.
Originally published in The Paper, May 1983.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1983_05.pdf, printed page(s) 1; PDF page(s) 1.
