Whitely's Year of Color aims to show shades of community
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - Fire hydrants, park benches, mailboxes and other fixtures in the Whitely neighborhood are being painted soothing colors as part of a unity, beautification and pride campaign.
"We don't want it to look like Candy Land, just a splash of color," says Frank T. Scott Sr., president of Whitely Community Council.
Participating residents and businesses in the northeast side neighborhood will be provided with brushes, rollers and their choice of paint in 18 colors, including summer wheat, orange ice, fresh mist, apricot butter, tangy dill, blue galaxy and pink flutter.
"We don't want teal street," Scott said. "We want to mix it up."
The pastel color scheme mirrors that of Centennial Place affordable apartments built by Indianapolis-based Flaherty & Collins, whose Brian Moore told The Star Press, "The inspiration for the colors came from Southern vernacular architecture and pre-World War II development, when homes tended to be more colorful."
The neighborhood has obtained permission from the city to paint crosswalks and fire hydrants as well as picnic tables, old playground equipment, shelters and other structures in McCulloch Park.
"The whole purpose is to build community and to come together for a common purpose," Scott said. "That's why the city is involved. It's not about Whitely. It's about community. This can happen anywhere in the city. We don't mind being the guinea pig or the model."
Whitely isn't trying to push its "Year of Color" campaign on other neighborhoods, just show how neighborhood residents can unite on any improvement project.
The council doesn't expect any Whitely residents to go to the trouble of painting entire houses like you see at Centennial Place, though it would have no objections to that.
Instead, the council is suggesting businesses and residents paint front doors, mailboxes, shutters, planters, porch railings, lawn and garden fixtures and so forth, said Rebecca Parker, a specialist at Muncie Public Library's Whitely facility, Connection Corner.
"We hope people will take this idea and run with it," Parker said. "We will be painting anything and everything people are willing to paint. . The idea is to bring those beautiful, bright pastel colors of Centennial Place apartments and carry them throughout the community to create a visual sort of brand for the neighborhood, a visual identity we can be really proud of."
She continued: "This is a bold, beautiful and colorful neighborhood, so toning things down just doesn't work. We want to make things as bold and bright and beautiful as this neighborhood is."
How much of the neighborhood gets painted depends on how many donations and volunteers the council gets.
"Paint the Park" is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. June 25, at McCulloch Park. That event will cap off Whitely's second annual "Makeover Week" starting June 20. Last year, more than a dozen churches from outside the neighborhood pledged about 250 congregation members to repair gutters, trim overgrown bushes, caulk windows, clean up yards and make other improvements to the neighborhood between McGalliard Road and the White River.
"This is also about building relationships," Scott told The Star Press last year. "People are coming here from all over. We're hoping it will be a chain reaction, a ripple effect. Hopefully they will replicate this in other neighborhoods."
"Makeover Week" was inspired by Union Chapel Ministries' volunteer SERVE week, which has performed annual community service projects in Whitely and other neighborhoods for years.
As a result of last year's makeover event, one of the organizations Scott partnered with was Hazelwood Christian Church on University Avenue. "I have ministered there twice since last year," he said.
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Source: The (Muncie) Star Press, http://tspne.ws/1S5WADc
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Information from: The Star Press, http://www.thestarpress.com