New Gateway Gardens gives people 1 more reason to visit Lockport

On May 19, Main Street Lockport dedicated the new Illinois and Michigan Canal Gateway Gardens, which run along the canal, according to Tina Keller, board member for Main Street Lockport, a nonprofit organization that works to improve Lockport’s downtown district.

The garden features hearty native and sustainable perennial plants and trees along the canal, Keller said.

“We call it a Gateway Garden because it really is a gateway to the city and to the canal,” Keller said.

On May 19, Main Street Lockport dedicated the new Illinois and Michigan Canal Gateway Gardens, which runs along the canal. (Photo provided)

In addition Lockport “invested in the reconstruction of stone walls and constructed a stone stairway leading to the canal,” according to a post on the Mainstreet Lockport Illinois Facebook page.

“We were able to use limestone from the seven arch bridge for benches, stairs, erosion control and resting posts,” Keller said.

The plaque that identifies the garden is also mounted on limestone, she added.

The plaque that identifies the new Illinois and Michigan Canal Gateway Gardens is mounted on limestone from Lockport's seven arch bridge. (Photo provided)

Featured plants include green mound currant, summer wine ninebark, stained glass hostas, liriope, misty lace goatsbeard, happy return daylilies, hyperion, millennium allium, Halfway to Arkansas, Shenandoah grass, tara prairie dropseed grass, flats sedum, red bud, cypress, swamp white oak and American filbert.

Having an array of inviting flowers near the staircase will hopefully invite visitors to explore the area, Keller said. A horticulturist helped select the plants, Keller added.

“She knew we were trying to make it 100% native and sustainable,” Keller said.

This garden is just one project of many Lockport has undertaken in recent years to “increase economic activity, promote recreational activities and increase the general enjoyment of the Lockport historic district,” Keller said.

Other recent projects included the “Keep Our Small Business Afloat” program, which raised about $60,000 and produced 20 customized ducks to help promote 20 small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pictured Wendy Streit, chair of Lockport's summer art series, and Mayor Steve Streit, also a former art instructor at the Illinois Institute of Art. They are posing with one of two ducks that were painted to look like the traditional yellow rubber duck. The other, customized ducks are in the process of being assigned to the Illinois State Museum selected artists. — Pictured Wendy Streit, chair of Lockport's summer art series, and Mayor Steve Streit, also a former art instructor at the Illinois Institute of Art. They are posing with one of two ducks that were painted to look like the traditional yellow rubber duck. The other customized ducks are in the process of being assigned to the Illinois State Museum selected artists. (Photo Provided)

Another is “unLOCK: Merging Art & Industry.” This included the Lockport Poetry Project, which created art from poetry. For instance, Sam Love of Indiana displayed the results of all these projects beneath the underpass between the Gaylord and Norton buildings – using wheat paste so the words will stand up to both the elements and the passing of time, Love said in a 2018 Herald-News story.

"The goal for this program is to utilize art as an economic development tool, to attract people to the downtown district, to stay longer, to participate," Pam Owen, director of the Gaylord Building, said. "It's to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit and industrial heritage of Lockport through the creation of works of art."

Owen said the project was possible through a $50,000 Our Town grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.

"Every artist is doing different original works of art and also doing a public programming component to it, as well," Owen said.

(Above, Sam Love uses wheat paste to install poems to the underpass of the 9th Street bridge). — "The goal for this program is to utilize art as an economic development tool, to attract people to the downtown district, to stay longer, to participate," Pam Owen, director of the Gaylord Building, said. "It's to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit and industrial heritage of Lockport through the creation of works of art." Owen said the project was possible through a $50,000 Our Town grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. "Every artist is doing different original works of art and also doing a public programming component to it, as well," Owen said. (Above, Sam Love uses wheat paste to install poems to the underpass of the 9th Street bridge).

Plainfield artist John McDavitt also created a mural featuring Abraham Lincoln’s connection to the I&M Canal inside the Lockport Branch of the White Oak Library and invited the community to help him paint it.

In June 2018, Plainfield artist John McDavitt hosted community paint days at the White Oak Library District, Lockport branch. At the time, McDavitt was creating a mural inside the library and had invited the public to help paint it. The mural joins together themes of Abraham Lincoln, the I&M Canal and early explorers. (Photo provided)

The Gateway Gardens was made possible through a $25,000 grant from the Canadian National Railroad working in conjunction with America in Bloom, Keller said.

America in Bloom offers a variety of programs that focus on “creating beautiful and vibrant communities,” according to its website at americainbloom.org.

In 2017, a $15,000 grant from the Canadian National Railroad paid for a garden in the south parking lot of the Public Landing Restaurant.

New Gateway Gardens gives people 1 more reason to visit Lockport

A $25,000 grant from the Canadian National Railroad in conjunction with America in Bloom beautifies area near I&M Canal