The Gary Redevelopment Commission is seeking landscaping help for its Broadway beautification project.
The commission created a request for proposal, or RFP, for landscaping companies to carry out the project, according to the city’s website. Proposals will be received through May 27, according to the website.
The project will be completed June 11, according to the RFP. Applicants are also encouraged to work with the Gary Youth Partnership Organization — a local organization connecting youth and teenagers to community projects — to help with beautification efforts.
The chosen applicant will also work with Pamela Self Landscape Architecture, an Arlington Heights-based firm.
According to city documents, the project focuses on the stretch of Broadway between Fourth and Ninth avenues. Chosen landscapers will help trim, clean and remove trees.
They will also plant new overstory trees, annuals, perennials and bulbs, and add mulch, hanging plants and potted plants along the road.
Christopher Harris, Gary’s redevelopment director, was unable to immediately comment on the beautification project and RFP.
The city of Gary has made other moves to improve the area around Broadway, including receiving an Indiana Main Street designation for its Midtown corridor, officially named “The Midtown Broadway Cultural Heritage and Music District,” according to Post-Tribune archives.
The Midtown district stretches from Broadway to Harrison Street and 21st to 27th Avenue.
The Indiana Main Street program is managed by the state Office of Community and Rural Affairs, and it provides assistance with focus, access to information, and community support and guidance to downtown revitalization organizations. The Midtown designation is the first in Lake and Porter counties, and is Indiana’s first cultural main street honoring a historically Black neighborhood, according to Post-Tribune archives.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton, since his inauguration, has been focused on blight elimination, especially in Gary’s downtown near Broadway.
“We’re enhancing the quality of life for residents and growing economic opportunities for all,” Melton previously said. “That’s something I’m very proud of because of the work that we’ve been doing collectively, as a team throughout this entire administration.”
