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Beautification Pilot Program Urges People to Stop and Smell the Flowers

Matthew Hersh

If Nassau Street seems more colorful lately, it's because there are flowers in the air, literally.

A pilot program to beautify the Borough's commercial district has hit the streets in the form of six hanging flower baskets: four where Witherspoon Street meets Nassau, and two at Vandeventer Avenue, also at the Nassau Street intersection.

The project, which began last month and has received positive feedback from merchants and residents alike, is the personal campaign of one Borough resident who felt that parts of downtown were beginning to appear "shabby."

"As a volunteer, I'm on a personal mission to beautify Princeton," said Master Gardener Polly Burlingham, a member of the Borough Shade Tree Commission who has maintained the garden at Barbara Boggs Sigmund Park and installed the planters at the plaza adjacent to the Princeton Public Library.

Although it remains a personal mission, Ms. Burlingham is attempting to get the town on board, as well as merchants who would participate by watering and maintaining the baskets hanging in front of their establishments.

If this sounds familiar, that's because it is. Towns and cities across the country have embarked on similar programs that include plantings and other adornments to their central business districts. Many of these initiatives are under the umbrella of designated Special Improvement Districts (SID) that assess merchants for security, cleanup, and beautification.

But not every city handles such programs the same way. An ongoing debate in the Borough concerns whether downtown actually requires a SID like those in nearby towns such as Westfield and Red Bank. Meanwhile, independent initiatives continue, like the holiday wreaths supplied in year's past by the Flower Market for merchants willing to pay for holiday decorations.

And while a SID will not likely come to the Borough any time soon, Ms. Burlingham said future beautification projects will have to be volunteerbased. "We have to find reasonable ways to maintain these projects, because I've heard such wonderful comments from people and I know it's appreciated, but it's up to the town to figure out how to maintain them," she said.

The idea was presented to the Borough Merchants for Princeton's monthly board meeting yesterday where several merchants expressed a willingness to participate in such a program.

Borough Merchants President Kathie Marolda, also owner of the Cranbury Station Gallery on Palmer Square East, lauded the idea, saying that the organization could solicit other business owners if they were available to maintain the plantings.

"I can't imagine any owner who's paying the rent down here who would not take care of the flowers," she said.

Ms. Burlingham said she would consult with merchants at the outset regarding maintenance and would then do interim spotchecks throughout the summer. "There's no point in spending the money and putting the baskets up if they're not going to be maintained."

Under the proposal, merchants would be responsible for replacing the plants if they were neglected. Pole installation could cost around $300, but that would be a onetime cost, with lesser costs to come as annual plantings are installed.

The impetus for the idea came from similar town plantings in the southern Norway town of Kristiansand that, according to Ms. Burlingham, created a "unifying" feel on either side of the street.

"Between the University, the Borough, and the merchants, we can devise a program that can be effective."