Chicago Gateway Green helps grow 12 new Dan Ryan gardens
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Public/private partnerships support organization’s goal of planting 15,000 trees by 2015This summer, Chicago Gateway Green and its partners are maintaining one dozen lush and colorful new gardens, totaling 2.5 acres, along the new-and-improved Dan Ryan Expressway. The organization’s goal is to plant 15,000 trees along Chicago expressways and throughout the city by 2015.
The Dan Ryan Expressway is an example of how a collaborative green movement is turning areas that are vulnerable to poor air quality, litter and lack of greenery into colorful, blooming, well-tended gardens and tree canopies. The major expressway improvement project is an investment of time and resources by Chicago Gateway Green, Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), City of Chicago and numerous corporations and local businesses.
Expressway gardens are individually marked with the non-profit organization’s iconic leaf symbol and partner logos. Planted in 2008 and 2009, this is the first, full blooming season for the Dan Ryan rainbow-themed gardens. They are teeming with numerous trees, including Kentucky Coffee Tree, Swamp White Oak and Japanese Tree Lilacs., complemented by double knockout roses, liatris, catmint and prairie dropseed. Gardens are distinct according to a dominant color theme for each gateway, from the yellow daylilies and sumac at 63rd Street Gateway, to the blue and purple salvias at 47th Street.
The self-irrigating gardens are a true collaboration between Chicago Gateway Green, leading corporations, sports teams and local businesses, as well as IDOT, CDOT and the city. Current Dan Ryan Expressway Partners include Allstate Insurance Company, Chicago White Sox, Illinois Institute of Technology, PLS and Solo Cup.
“The Dan Ryan gardens are a showpiece for what these types of partnerships can accomplish,” said Gerald Roper, chairman, Chicago Gateway Green. “Travelers and commuters enjoy beautiful scenery and the gardens enhance the environment by transforming areas with poor air quality and smog into lush greenery. Chicago’s expressway gardens illustrate our belief that beauty and sustainability go hand in hand to improve quality of life for millions of Chicagoans and its visitors.”
Chicago Gateway Green, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2011, also maintains more than 100 expressway gardens along the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Stevenson. Partners on those expressways include the Chicago Blackhawks, Bears, Cubs and Fire; and local businesses Vienna Beef, Horseshoe Casino and 900 N. Michigan Shops. For a full list of Chicago Gateway Green Expressway Program partners, please visit the Web site at www.gatewaygreen.org.
Two additional Chicago Gateway Green programs also rely on strong partnerships. The organization’s International Sculpture Exchange Program enhances expressway landscapes through placement of permanent, large-scale public art from 25 global sister cities. Its Tree Partnership Program weaves like a green ribbon through Chicago’s neighborhoods. Tree partnerships with organizations, companies and individuals green and beautify gardens on neighborhood parkways and on land that is vacant or vulnerable to poor environmental conditions.
Through its work to combine sustainability with beauty, Chicago Gateway Green has earned support from prominent individuals and organizations. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is honorary co-chairman of Chicago Gateway Green and this spring, reporter/anchor and active philanthropist Bill Kurtis was named honorary spokesperson. The organization’s officers and board of directors include Chicago leaders in business, industry, charity and the arts.
“Now more than ever, beautification efforts in Chicago are needed to restore and ensure the natural beauty of our city and improve the quality of air, land and ultimately the quality of living,” Roper said. “For nearly 25 years, Chicago Gateway Green has been a constant in the greening of Chicago, and our commitment continues as we work toward a collective vision of an urban garden.”
In addition to support for its Expressway Garden Program, donations are needed for plants and planting materials, and volunteers are necessary to help with Chicago Gateway Green’s tree planting and maintenance activities. Companies, businesses, organizations and individuals are encouraged to call 312-540-9930 or visit www.gatewaygreen.org to learn how they can help keep Chicago growing green and beautiful.
