Beautification
Historic Southwood Park was created by developers who appreciated the outdoors. Rather than try to shoehorn as many lots as possible into the acreage, they worked with the land. Streets and sidewalks were carefully planned to avoid felling the great, old-growth trees. The neighborhood layout takes advantage of the gently rolling terrain. In some areas of the association, streets are laid out in grand esplanades, creating long public lawns and attractive vistas.
Beautification Days
The Association takes advantage of these gifts by maintaining a number of pocket gardens in the neighborhood. The Association holds regular "Beautification Days" where neighbors come together to create and maintain these areas.
The association’s pocket gardens are located at the following intersections: Westover & Old Mill, Beaver & Westover, Indiana & Rudisill, Arlington Esplanade, Tacoma & Pettit, Indiana & Beaver, Tacoma & Sherwood, South Wayne & Pettit, Crestwood & Sunset and the Old Mill Roundabout.
Dumpster Days
As an extension of the Board of Directors the Beautification Committee aims to enhance and protect the beauty of our community as well as provide homeowners opportunities to do the same. Hosting dumpster days allow us to remove large amounts of bulk rubbish from the neighborhood at one time as opposed to waiting for curbside bulk pickup. Its important that residents adhere to the rules set forth by the City of Fort Wayne when using the dumpster so that we can continue to provide this valuable service.
Tree Programming
The City of Fort Wayne offers mature street trees to residents for $50. If you are interested in getting a tree placed in your park strip, Historic Southwood Park will cover this cost for you. These trees are planted in late Fall and should be watered until the ground freezes to help increase their chance survival. With this program we have added over 100 mature trees in the neighborhood.
Additionally, the association purchases 1-2 year old tree seedlings from Indiana Department of Natural Resources Forestry Division which are dispersed to residents annually in early Spring. With this program we have introduced over 300 seedlings to the area.
Sidewalk Reimbursement Program
The City of Fort Wayne offers a 50/50 cost-share program for residential sidewalk repairs. Additionally, Historic Southwood Park will reimburse 50% of a resident’s cost-share portion. So if you have cracked, deteriorating or uneven blocks of sidewalk in front of your home it’s possible you may only have to pay 25% of the total cost!
This program is operated on a first come first served basis with a finite amount of dollars budgeted per year. Pre-approval is required for reimbursement.
Dirt Days
The homeowner’s association provides high quality soil from Felgers Peat Moss annually in May. Dirt day locations and dates are sent out in our newsletter.
Neighborhood Grants
The Beautification Committee has also applied for and received grant funding from The City of Fort Wayne for the following projects:
2024 - Reforesting Southwood Park - We requested 106 street trees and were approved!
2023 - Park & Play on Arlington Ave. - Two 4ft benches and 6 street trees!
2022 - Redbud Lane - 6ft Park Bench and 3 Redbud Trees!