Aurora officials are lauding ComEd for a grant it gave the city, resulting in a pollinator garden along the Fox River downtown.
The Finance Committee recently recommended a resolution acknowledging the city’s participation and completion of the garden, with the assistance of the ComEd Green Region Program grant. The full City Council will vote on the resolution next month.
The city also got help from a number of volunteers to plant the garden, many of them organized by Aurora Downtown, the organization that oversees promotion and other items in the downtown special service area.
“Anytime you get volunteer groups out to help, it enhances the community,” said Ald. Edward Bugg, 9th Ward.
The city got a $9,000 grant in 2019 from the ComEd Green Region Program, which helped pay for almost half of the $20,689 project. The garden stretches for about 425 feet along the riverbank, starting just below the New York Street bridge.
John Russell, the city’s grant writer, said the garden replaced overgrown weeds along the riverfront with more than 280 kinds of plants native to Illinois.
The garden helps stabilize the riverbank, control erosion and attract waterfowl, along with other birds and animals. It also attracts birds and pollinators, as well as butterflies.
“This is a beautiful thing, to see the bees and butterflies do what they do,” said Ald. Scheketa Hart-Burns, 7th Ward.
Officials said the city’s Downtown Services and Engineering staff members planned the project, and about 30 volunteers from several local agencies ended up helping plant the garden last fall.
Ald. Carl Franco, 5th Ward, Finance Committee chairman, asked if these kinds of gardens could be expanded to other places along the river, as well as throughout the city.
“Yes, there are more grants available,” Russell said.
