Santa Monica Mayor Ted Winterer Receives GRO1000 Award

Mayor Ted Winterer and the City of Santa Monica are one of four cities receiving the 2017 GRO1000 Garden and Green Space Award. The three-year grant will fund the final stages of revitalization to Ishihara Park, a community greenspace designed to connect area residents to nature in an urban setting.

The park transformed land formerly used as a parking lot into a welcoming public green scape with native plantings, an urban orchard, a learning garden, and passive green areas for residents to gather, exercise and experience nature. Ishihara Park creates a buffer for nearby residents from the visual nature of a very urban setting, adjacent to a metro rail maintenance facility. GRO1000 will support the final stages of revitalization to the park and help create educational programming for the community centered on horticulture, nutrition, and environmental sustainability. The park was named in honor of George Ishihara, a local resident who fought on the Japanese–American 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II.

GRO1000 award recipients are awarded a total of $40,000 in monetary funds and product, payable over three years. In Year 1, each winning city will receive a grant in the amount of $25,000 ($15,000 cash; $10,000 in-kind product from ScottsMiracle-Gro). For Years 2 and 3, winning cities will receive a grant award of $7,500 ($5,000 cash; $2,500 in-kind product from ScottsMiracle-Gro).

The project is supported by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation’s and The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ national GRO1000 gardens and green spaces program.