The old, rusty guardrails bordering the municipal parking lot on Ansonia’s West Main Street will be replaced by a row of Cleveland pear trees thanks to a grant announced by the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Thursday.
The city will receive $3,780 to plant 28 trees at various locations around the city “to provide shade, aesthetics and other environmental benefits, and to demonstrate the importance of a balanced ecosystem,” a press release from DEEP said.
Eileen Krugel, the city’s grant writer, said plantings are planned for four areas of Ansonia:
- Five Cleveland pear trees on Third and Fourth streets
- Four trident maple trees in Colony Park
- Two Cleveland pear trees in the area of Central Street and Father Salemme Drive
- 17 Cleveland pear trees for the West Main Street parking lot.
“If you try to picture the lot without the metal barriers and a nice raised, mulched raised curb-type area, it should really enhance it,” Krugel said of the parking lot plans.
The city has also applied for a grant for nearly $500,000 worth of other improvements to the parking lot through the state’s Main Street Investment Fund, but hasn’t yet heard back, Krugel said.
The tree money comes through a program called America the Beautiful, by which municipalities and non-profit organizations are able to apply to the Connecticut DEEP for grants of up to $8,000.
Krugel said Ansonia has twice before been awarded money through the program, and that the city’s public works department will plant the trees in the summer or fall.
