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Auburn Beautification Commission raises funds for Hoopes Park
The Auburn Beautification Commission is teaming up with the local Cornell Cooperative Extension to put a butterfly and hummingbird garden in at Hoopes Park. The project is part of a larger plan to improve the park's atmosphere and aesthetics.
The garden will combine shrubs, flowers and other perennial and annual plants that will attract insects and birds for park visitors, beautification commission chairman Jim Kent said Tuesday. Kent said organizers have chosen a location behind the park clubhouse, and he expects the garden to be installed by May. But the project is still in the planning stages, he said.
“We're going to try and accommodate the butterflies for every stage of life,” Kent said. “Some of the plants will be very common, like black-eyed Susan and that type of thing. It's also going to be a little bit unusual in terms of plant material.”
Those that contributed to the development of the garden attended a live auction fundraiser on April 17 at the Dickman Farms Garden Center. Kent said the auction included plants people can bid on and donate to the park project. There will also be a number of plants and shrubs for attendees to purchase for their own landscaping purposes. Proceeds will benefit the beautification commission.
Originally formed as a city of Auburn committee in 2007, the commission is a nonprofit organization dedicated to cleaning up the city's image through various improvements to public places. Since it formed, the commission has worked to improve Freedom Park on the corner of Dill and North Streets and has installed flower pots in and around the downtown area.
Kent said the hummingbird and butterfly garden will not be the last improvement at Hoopes Park. There are also plans to replace some of the trees and restore some of the original planting beds in the near future.
The commission is ultimately trying to restore Hoopes Park to its original glory from as far back as the 1930s. Kent said the park is perhaps the nicest green space in the city, and the smartest thing a city can do is improve on its strengths. “But it's going to take time, up to a decade or more,” Kent said.
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