City gears up for Spring Clean Sweep

Several downtown businesses are once again joining forces this year in an effort to help spruce up the community.

A group of 10 businesses located in the North Main street area are planning to participate in the 2008 Clean Sweep program, a volunteer effort to clean up trash in the downtown area that begins this month and continues throughout the year.

The program is part of a City of Fort Scott-sponsored program that began two years ago to clean up areas of Fort Scott. That program is a volunteer effort involving city staff and other community members who scour the town collecting trash and debris.

In the downtown program, volunteers will be responsible for two different one-week periods throughout the year, in which they will inspect an area for cleanliness and then report any problems to the city street department. The area included in the downtown program spans from the north side of Wall Street to Skubitz Plaza and the Fort Scott National Historic Site, and the east side of National Avenue to the corner of Old Fort Blvd. and Scott Street.

Country Cupboard owner Judy Renard, the organizer of the volunteer effort, said that more than 30 volunteers will take part in the project, including individuals, husband and wife teams, families, grandparents and grandchildren.

"Small groups working together to keep their neighborhoods looking good shows pride in our community," Renard said. "Downtown is 'everyone's neighborhood,' so we are trying to do our part to improve our downtown neighborhood. We urge folks all over town to take a look at their neighborhoods and organize a similar program to move forward in neighborhood revitalization."

Volunteers will still continue to clean up portions of the downtown area even after the City of Fort Scott begins a $2 million restoration and revitalization project in downtown Fort Scott next month, Renard said.

"With the downtown Main Street work that will be in progress, this will be a challenge this year, but we will do the best we can," she said.

Atkins Insurance co-owner Ann Stark said Renard asked her last year if the agency would join the group of businesses that are participating in the Clean Sweep program. Stark said she and other staff at the local insurance agency, as well as their families, are pleased and willing to join in the downtown clean-up effort.

"We want to keep downtown looking presentable," Stark said. "If you just take a look downtown, it's just amazing what you will find. It's often not a pretty sight, and I think people just don't think about it."

The volunteers will clean up litter in needed areas on North Main Street, such as streets, sidewalks, alleys and parking lots. The Clean Sweep program has been conducted each year since 2006 in response to a public survey that took place at the time that identified various problems with the city. Results of the survey included general clean-up ideas and ways to improve and spruce up particular areas throughout the city.

Stark said the program is an ideal way for friends and families to participate in a beneficial activity during the outdoor months.

"During the spring and fall, it is an excuse to get out and enjoy the fine weather," she said. "And even when you know it's hot, you do it anyway."

The Clean Sweep program is a joint effort between citizens, public works crews and the City of Fort Scott Codes Department. Areas that will be targeted in the program include weeds and grass growing around buildings, accumulated trash areas, dirty windows on vacant buildings, planter responsibilities, the appearance of upper story windows, blocked gutters, and general maintenance requests.

Once trash has been picked up, the city will pick up full trash bags at designated locations near the alleys, or they may be placed in business dumpsters. The city will provide trash bags and T-shirts for volunteers.

For more information about the program, call Renard at (620) 223-5980.