Redbud Lane Is Happening!

Historic Southwood Park volunteer Board of Directors strives to serve and engage its citizens through a variety of beautification projects. In our 2019 resident survey, residents listed “more benches” and providing more “bee friendly” gardening as desired neighborhood improvements. In an effort to meet these residents’ needs, we requested a grant from the City of Fort Wayne to activate the park strip at the 4600 Block of Tacoma Ave which was recently approved! Our project will add a 6 foot park bench and plant four Eastern Redbud trees throughout the park strip. At the south end of this park strip, where it intersects with W. Sherwood Terrace, there is an existing section of sidewalk with two ADA compliant ramps. Here is where we will hire professional contractors to pour an 8ft by 4ft cement slab adjacent to the sidewalk to install our park bench on. One of the Eastern Redbud trees would be placed directly behind the bench and the other three would be placed throughout the park strip.

Eastern Redbud trees are native to our geographic region and its aesthetically pleasing blooms are beneficial for hummingbirds and bees. Not only would this transform this block into one of the most beautiful and enjoyable park strips in Historic Southwood Park; but it would allow all residents, including those with mobility concerns, to easily access and enjoy the bench. West Sherwood Terrace allows many residents to travel to St. John the Baptist Church and School on a regular basis and it also takes pedestrian traffic directly to Foster Park and it’s trail system. As such, this improvement will be highly visible and easily accessible to anyone using W. Sherwood Terrace to reach these destinations. We look forward to completing this project for our community and hope to see you enjoying it soon!