Three years ago NeighborWorks partnered with the Rapid City Police Department and the residents of Lemmon Avenue to create a block club and the neighborhood’s focal point at 706 Lemmon Ave., the Lemmon Avenue Community Garden.
Since then the neighborhood has seen great improvements. “It seems like a different place. You go around town and talk to people and they can’t get over how clean Lemmon Avenue is looking,” said John Haag.
The Lemmon Avenue Block Club recently changed their name to the College Park Block Club to encompass the neighboring streets and spread the success of the improvements. “We started in a small clump. We’re slowly starting to spread,” said John Haag, a Lemmon Avenue resident and the president of the College Park Block Club, formerly the Lemmon Avenue Block Club.
Senior Rapid City Police Officer Ron Terviel, who has worked on the project since its beginning, expects the revitalization to keep spreading. “I think it’s just going to keep on snowballing,” Terviel said. “We want to expand this thing and get more people involved.”Lemmon Avenue residents want their neighborhood revitalization efforts to spill into surrounding streets.
Saturday, April 21st the residents came a step closer to that goal when Wells Fargo donated property on nearby Willsie Avenue to NeighborWorks Dakota Home Resources.
716 Willsie was an uninhabitable abandoned house. The current structure will be demolished a new home will be built in its place for a low- to moderate-income family.
Before the structure was demolished the College Park Residents and Rapid City Police Department volunteers collected useable materials in the houseto be recycled and used for garden boxes for their community garden.
Before the structure was demolished the College Park Residents and Rapid City Police Department volunteers collected useable materials in the houseto be recycled and used for garden boxes for their community garden.
The Residents of Lemmon and the College Park Block Club have gained a great deal of pride in their neighborhood since this project began. They are working together to improve the quality of life for their neighbors and themselves. "It is now a community", College Park Block Club President, John Haag stated.
If you would like more information on the College Park Block Club or Community Garden, contact Sharon at 578-1401
If you would like more information on the College Park Block Club or Community Garden, contact Sharon at 578-1401
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