Our July Update

We've been hard at work cleaning and beautifying downtown Rochester, and we appreciate this opportunity to share a few highlights with you.

For starters, we just completed the restoration of our 20th(!) city bench since last Spring. As much as we focus on litter and flowers, these bench transformations seem to be our most popular work 🤷🏼‍♂️.

Two more benches "lilac'd on S. Clinton

🌻 It still amazes us how much impact flowers can make on a streetscape. For a few years I have driven by a couple of unkept (but attractive) concrete planters outside a building on Andrews. So a few weeks ago we finally do something about it, and the difference is striking...

These planters on Andrews needed some TLC

Imagine a downtown where every building has a flower planter (or two) outside their entrance. That's the downtown we envision, and we encourage anyone who works or lives in the center city to consider doing the same.

In fact, if you provide the planter(s) and promise to water regularly, we'll even pick up the flowers and plant them for you! Just drop us a line and we'll work it out with you 😎.

One of 4 benches we restored on Liberty Pole

We are extremely excited to be in the final phase of our biggest single project this summer, the creation of the Midge Thomas Community Garden at the northeast corner of Clinton and Pleasant (the entrance to St. Joseph's Park).

In July we took the first huge step by installing the raised bed with a gorgeous bluestone boulder border. This was made possible through the generosity of KD The Boulder Company, who donated their time, talent and treasure towards this truly transformational tribute to Mrs. Thomas.

In about a week we will begin planting dozens of native perennials in this raised bed, creating a dramatic garden that will bloom year after year. You are cordially invited to attend the official unveiling and commemoration on Thursday, August 21st at 10:30am.

We can't wait to share the AFTER pic!

July was certainly a hot one... and dry! As a result, it sometimes felt like all we were doing was watering.

It's clear we're going to need to find a better long-term solution than filling up coolers in the trunk of the car 🤦🏼‍♂️. So if you have any ideas or suggestions for a more efficient watering setup, we would be grateful for your input. We want to solve for this challenge over the winter so that we can double our planting again next year!

Watering was July's biggest challenge

Well, that's a wrap for this month. We spared you the usual litter update, but know that we're still ON IT. It's important, and it's part of our daily routine.

If you still want to read more about our work (LOL), check out this very nice article in RBJ from last week.

- Mike and Tina Gilbert

Please consider becoming a Downtown ROCstar by supporting our efforts with a tax-deductible gift. Every dollar is invested directly into placemaking projects that enhance our center city.

Our June Update | Our May Update | Our April Update