East Dundee businesses contribute to downtown landscaping

With all the time and money East Dundee officials have invested in infrastructure and redevelopment projects, Cliff Surges thought it was time for local businesses to pitch in.

For the past several months, construction in the village's downtown area has been seemingly endless, said Surges, owner of East Dundee's American Family Insurance. "It's one project after the next - all of them critical, all of them following a master plan," he said, citing street repairs, water and sewer projects and the Hill Street lift station project.

But to continue bringing people downtown, where village officials and investors are working to create a culinary district, the area needs to remain attractive in the midst of all the construction, Surges said. An easy way to do that, he said, is with some minor landscaping.

Tom Roeser, who has invested in several downtown beautification projects, said Surges approached him about creating a berm and planting several trees along Roeser's gravel parking lot used by Anvil Club and Blues BBQ & Grill patrons.

"The village didn't get to that part yet, so hey, we're willing to roll up our sleeves and help out," Surges said.

Hoping to start planting trees before temperatures dropped, Surges sent an email to surrounding businesses about a month ago asking for contributions to the total project cost of $2,800.

Within 24 hours, he said, four businesses came forward with donations, entirely covering the expense. Participating business owners included Surges, Joe Zeller of Zeller Marketing, Jesse Oxford of Ox Creative and Sven Bley of Made to Measure.

"(Surges) has done a good job getting neighbors involved and businesses involved to invest in the beautification of the downtown area," Roeser said. "That's all been cleaned up a bunch."

It wasn't long before the berm was created and the trees were planted, Surges said. But even after the work was in progress, he said, several other businesses approached him asking how they could help and saying they'd love to do more.

"We put out one email, and they fell in line," Surges said. "Things are happening in East Dundee."

As part of East Dundee's downtown plan, officials are putting together a comprehensive landscaping plan, Village President Lael Miller said, but the village likely won't begin implementing beautification projects until several others are completed.

"It's great to see that businesses are buying into our plan and that they're contributing, too," Miller said. "They've stepped up and decided to help move the beautification of the downtown forward. It's a collaborative effort."