From the sidewalks to the shrubbery, the downtown business district of Wrightsville Beach has received weekly cleanups as part of a collaboration among businesses and the Wrightsville Beach Foundation.
The Wrightsville Beach Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that board member and past-president Lisa Weeks said identifies the needs of Wrightsville Beach and raises private funds toward its betterment.
“Because the Town of Wrightsville Beach cannot have a fundraising arm, the foundation fills the gap between citizens and initiatives like the beautification of Wrightsville Beach,” Weeks said during an Aug. 29 phone interview.
Beginning mid-June, Weeks emailed and called the owners of 22 North, Jerry Allen’s Sports Bar and Grill, King Neptune Restaurant, Lagerhead’s and Tower 7 asking for donations to fund a cleanup project of the business district facilitated by a private landscaping company.
“They all rallied around it,” Weeks said. “We have a very supportive business community that really wants to do the right thing.”
The foundation raised more than $2,500 and hired Seacoast Landscape for the job in late June.
David Young, owner and operator of Seacoast Landscape, said the business district requires additional cleaning during the summer months the Town of Wrightsville Beach does not already provide.
“The high-volume traffic in those areas, especially during the peak season, really requires an extra effort that we have been able to accommodate,” Young said during an Aug. 29 phone interview. “Our company has been cleaning and trimming palm trees, cutting grass, pulling weeds, and really anything to get things looking better for the patrons that come down to use the businesses.”
Seacoast Landscape has cleaned the area every Tuesday morning since signing the contract.
Danny McPherson, co-owner of King Neptune, said the project is a community effort and all of the businesses are pitching in.
“The downtown area looks great now and it will continue to look the way it does if the businesses continue to pull their resources together,” McPherson said during an Aug. 29 phone interview. “We’ve done some landscaping of our own — tore some bushes out, put down mulch, painted the whole front of the building — and in the off-season we will repave the parking lot across [North Lumina Avenue]. This project has shown that the investment is well worth it.”
Weeks said Seacoast Landscape will service the business area on a bi-weekly schedule until the end of the year.
“It would be ideal to revisit this before next summer to get everyone to pitch in again,” Weeks said. “I think the project has been a success this summer and we can build on it in 2015.”
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