Led by a university volunteer group, Georgetown students and administrators will join forces with Georgetown area residents and organizations have planned a beautification project on Prospect Street for this Saturday. Led by Prospect Street Partners (PSP) – a volunteer group formed by a dozen individuals last semester – participants will landscape, mulch, plant, remove trash and install lighting on Prospect Street from 35th Street to Potomac Avenue, Bank Street, 34th and 35th Streets.
Alliance for Local Living (ALL) representative Matthew “Mackey” Neal (COL ’02) said students owe the university and area residents ownership of the area.
“It’s a privilege to live in this neighborhood,” he said. “We need to show the neighborhood that we care about Georgetown and where we live. We have to show that support.”
Neil said that Prospect Street has gotten specific attention as a high traffic area for Georgetown students. “There have been a lot of complaints coming in from neighbors about the student noise, and from students about safety issues,” he said.
He stressed, however that relations between the university and the community relationship have improved. “The major part is to compromise and partnership,” Neal said. “This is part of an effort to enhance the relationship with Georgetown and residential areas.”
John Dreyfus, Sculptor at the Halcyon House on Prospect Street agreed, adding that the idea behind the project is to engage the student body. “We want this to be a place where people feel safe and unthreatened,” he said. “It started with a little communication with people who live on Prospect Street,” Dreyfus added. “It is an issue to begin a process of learning about one another. It’s the beginning of a process.”
According to Coordinator of Off Campus Student Life Julie Fultz, “Many people look at Prospect Street as a gateway to Georgetown. We want to make living on Prospect Street better. It’s the chance to make a difference.”
“It will be great to see trees staked and wired, the ground mulched, the lampposts lit, and the trash put away tidily.” Dreyfus said. “It’s the entrance to the University, entrance to the historic village and of great importance to the community.”
Fultz said that she hopes to gather around 40 participants on Saturday. The event will be sponsored by Georgetown’s Office of Off Campus Student Life and External Relations, led by Assistant Dean of Students Jeanne Lord and Fultz. Lord and Fultz worked with Department of University Facilities Management, which has contributed mulch and other gardening materials for landscaping Prospect Street.
Assistant Vice President for External Relations Linda Greenan, Karen “Cookie” Cruse of the Citizens Association of Georgetown (CAG) and Lt. Brian Bray (PSA 205) of the Metropolitan Police Department will also participate. The D.C. Department of Public Works and the Business Association of Georgetown have also supported the event.
“This is not a one time event,” Fultz adds. She said she believes Prospect Street Partners could lead to beautification projects in other areas of Washington, D.C. “If this is successful, we want to use it as a model for Burleith,” she said.
PSP will meet at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 6 in the parking lot next to the Wormley School. The University and the Department of Public Safety will supply equipment and materials for the project.
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