"Iowa airport lands free landscaping aid"

Tuesday, September 24, 2002

Airport lands landscaping aid 
By George C. Ford
The Ceder Rapids (IA) Gazette


CEDAR RAPIDS -- The new entrance road leading to The Eastern Iowa
Airport from Wright Brothers Boulevard will be landscaped next spring,
but the city and airport won't be picking up the tab.

The Cedar Rapids Garden Club has offered to provide all planning and
plant materials, up to $100,000.

Professionals will install the trees, flowers, shrubs and other plants,
according to Mitzi Magid and Sara Fernandez, members of the Cedar Rapids
Garden Club.

"The Garden Club wanted to do a high-profile, high-impact project,"
Magid told the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission on Monday. "We also
wanted to be able to grow it in scale for future enjoyment.

"We wanted the project to benefit a large portion of the community, and
the airport is used by a lot of people in Cedar Rapids. It also is the
gateway to the community for many people visiting Cedar Rapids.

"We wanted the project to serve as an example or pilot program to show
what can be accomplished on a large scale. We also wanted to incorporate
native plant material."

Magid said a substantial portion of the cost of the project will be
provided by the Cedar Rapids Garden Club. It also will seek grants and
funds from other private sources, but no taxpayer money will be
involved.

"We are asking the airport and the commission to commit to maintaining
all the plantings," said Fernandez. "We also would like some recognition
for the garden club in the airport terminal."

Pam Hinman, marketing director for The Eastern Iowa Airport, said the
club approached airport staff about a year ago about landscaping the new
entrance boulevard. She said city and airport staff worked with the club
to develop a low-maintenance, high-impact plan.

"We hope to begin the installation in March, weather permitting," said
Fernandez. "If the weather cooperates, I would think that we would be
able to complete the work within two weeks."

The landscaping plan calls for three varieties of deciduous trees lining
the sides of the boulevard, forming a visual direction for motorists.
The 1,000-foot-long median will be divided into sections with manicured
grass and small trees, varied plantings for all seasons, and evergreens,
small shrubs, ground covers and perennials in "wild" sections.

Magid and Fernandez said the project, which will reduce mowing costs,
will likely be used as an educational tool by schools in the area. She
noted that large areas on each side of the entrance road have been
planted with native grasses, providing students a safe location to study
the project.

Hinman noted that a formal agreement has not been signed between the
airport commission and the garden club. The Cedar Rapids City Council
will receive a formal briefing today on the project from the club.

Magid said garden club representatives have talked with Parks
Commissioner Wade Wagner about continuing the plan's design on Wright
Brothers Boulevard from the airport entrance to Interstate 380.

"We are willing to contribute the planning and our expertise," she said.


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