GreenSpace News
Opening New Vistas in Our Greenspace — Work in Progress
The City of Chicago has been hard at work making improvements to our greenspace in 2011. Just before the holidays, crews removed debris left over from the demolition of the site, removing weed trees and replacing the chain-link fence with a new ornamental fence. The City also demolished the remnants of the driveway and replaced the curb along Bowmanville. All of this work will have our greenspace ready for development in the spring when the restoration crews will return to add topsoil and create the berms.
We need your help to realize the vision. See who is supporting the BCO GreenSpace project.
Hamming It Up For GreenSpace!
The frigid temperatures didn’t keep party-goers away from the GreenSpace fundraising extravaganza at Hamburger Mary’s on January 2, 2012! Bowmanville Bingo enthusiasts packed the restaurant’s dining room at 5400 North Clark Street. Cabaret singer and bingo caller, Felicity, supplied winners with a jolly red jello-shot, on the house, and Bowmanville’s very own Kris Neurauter provided fabulous prizes from local vendors: Amy’s Candy Bar, Homemade Pizza, Lickety Split, and Urban Orchard.
Many thanks go out to the GreenSpace team, especially organizers Carrie Mitchell and Kris Neurauter! Adding to the festivities, one of the BCO’s key contributors who has worked many volunteer hours on the tunnel mural and in the community gardens, Maria Gullo, celebrated her 33rd birthday at the event. Maria gathered her family and many friends from the neighborhood and beyond. Maria’s mom, Josephine Gullo, made delicious cupcakes for all, while her dad, John Gullo, snapped photos of all the action. Hamburger Mary’s offered a champagne toast in Maria’s honor, again on the house!
The sale of bingo cards netted our GreenSpace just over $600 in proceeds!
BCO GreenSpace Conceptual Design Plan
Neighborhood input has been invaluable in preparing the conceptual design for the green space at 5384 North Bowmanville. 
Through neighbor suggestions and discussions at our two charrettes (brainstorming sessions), we have developed an overall concept of a “Neighborhood Yard”. Much like your own backyard, it serves multiple purposes and moods. It serves as a natural playscape that is appealing to all ages and abilities. It expands and preserves green space within the community, in keeping with the pastoral tranquility of the Rosehill Cemetery setting. Neighbors will find a place for quiet reflection amidst a natural habitat where birds and butterflies will also find a home. In this conceptual design, an arbor welcomes you and starts you on a pathway through the space. Providing continuity with our existing garden on Bowmanville Avenue, plant and hardscape elements will turn the corner at the end of the Rosehill Cemetery wall, and fill the southeast corner of the new space. Two berms, at the northeast and southwest corners, create an amphitheater-like gathering area. The design will feature three engage-able areas made of natural materials, such as a stump stomp, a rock walk, and a neighbor-designed birdhouse forest.
BCO Successfully Acquires Site For Greening
by Cindy Burgin
There’s big, green news in the neighborhood! In June 2010, the BCO announced the successful acquisition of the property at 5384 N. Bowmanville Avenue, a purchase that moves us closer to reaching our goal in Phase I of the Greenspace Initiative. The property, currently a single-family home (below), sold by the Rocks family, residents of Bowmanville for generations, has been secured as part of a multi-phase initiative led by the GreenSpace Committee to acquire permanent greenspace for our community.
Over the next few months, thriving plants and shrubs on-site will be preserved and transplanted by community volunteers, as a redevelopment plan for the site is created. The existing house will be demolished, new fencing will be installed, and the site will be re-graded.This acquisition is the result of a community effort to create a community space.
Interested residents have been brainstorming uses for open space since the GreenSpace Committee formed in 2008. A community survey was conducted in Winter 2009 and a charrette, or brainstorming session, was held on March 6, 2010. Both exercises have helped guide the committee’s vision for the space.The location is a strategic one — it abuts our award-winning Bowmanville Garden and is adjacent to the open space that the community currently uses for special events, with the permission of Rosehill Cemetery. We believe that, the purchase of this property will enable the community to positively affect future, potential development along Bowmanville Avenue.
Funding for the purchase of the property is made possible through the generous support of Mayor Daley and the City of Chicago, and Corlands, a division of Openlands, a Chicago-based organization founded in 1963 and dedicated to protecting the natural and open spaces of northeastern Illinois and the surrounding region. Corlands works to ensure cleaner air and water, protect natural habitats and wildlife, and help balance and enrich our lives.
The beginning of a new permanent green space in Bowmanville!
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