cityofboston.gov

Mayor Thomas M. Menino has announced the recipients of Beautify Boston grants offered to qualified not-for-profit organizations.  The one-year beautification grant program was announced last fall for Boston’s community groups and open space advocates.

A total of $286,000 has been awarded for 36 approved beautification projects.  Grants range from $2,000 to $25,000.  Grants of $10,000 or more required an equal match in funding. 

“Beautify Boston carries on my administration’s tradition of working in partnership with residents and community groups to bring out the best in our neighborhoods,” Mayor Menino noted.  “Our partners help to keep our city livable and beautiful and we are pleased to help them in these efforts.”

Back Bay and Beacon Hill groups awarded grants include Friends of the Public Garden, Emerald Necklace Conservancy, the Garden Club of the Back Bay, and the Beacon Hill Civic Association.  In Charlestown, the Charlestown Preservation Society and Charlestown Working Theater, Inc., were recipients.  Five Dorchester-based organizations were recognized:  All Dorchester Sports League, Dorchester Park Association, Franklin Park Coalition, Metropolitan Baptist Church, and Sustainability Guild International. 

Three East Boston groups - East Boston Main Streets, Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association, and Neighborhood of Affordable Housing - made the list, along with three Fenway groups: Fenway Civic Association, Friends of Ramler Park, Inc., and the Fenway Garden Society.  The Jamaica Plain organization Hyde Jackson Square Main Street will receive a grant, as well as two North End groups, Friends of Christopher Columbus Park and the Old North Foundation of Boston, Inc.

Four South End groups - Friends of Blackstone/Franklin Park, Friends of Peters Park, Friends of Harriet Tubman Park, and Project Place - were announced as recipients.  Hyde Park Main Streets, Mattapan Square Main Streets, Roslindale Green & Clean, and Roxbury Multi Service Center, Inc., will also receive Beautify Boston grants, while the Boston Natural Areas Network was awarded six separate grants for sites the organization oversees in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and the South End. 

All projects were required to be physically and visually accessible from a public way and have the appropriate City-issued permits and approvals.  Property owners, including City of Boston agencies, must approve projects and sign a Property Owners Consent Form.  Letters of support from the community and abutters were also required.  

Mayor Menino’s other beautification efforts include the Boston Parks and Recreation Department’s Seed Grants program, which awards up to $250 to eligible community garden and friends groups, Mayor Menino’s annual Garden Contest, which recognizes amateur gardeners for their gardens citywide, and Mayor Menino’s “Boston Blooms!” volunteer program that plants daffodil bulbs along public ways throughout Boston.