James Martin Associates Donate
$10,000 to NYC Memorial Park

By Jodie Carter, regional editor

James Martin Associates, Inc., of Vernon Hills, Illinois, is the first Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) member to make a $10,000 contribution toward a new park that will be built near the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, New York. ?EUR??,,????'??We are honored to make this contribution to the citizens of Lower Manhattan in recognition of their significant loss and sacrifice as a result of the attack on 9/11/2001,?EUR??,,????'?? says Jim Martin, president of James Martin Associates.

When planning began for the original monument to be erected at Ground Zero, the ALCA offered to help with design and installation. But, the final design (now known as ?EUR??,,????'??Reflecting Absence?EUR??,,????'??) was still then in question, so the city of New York Parks and Recreation and the Lower Manhattan Development Group suggested another site that had significance during the recovery and cleanup activities after 9/11. This one-half acre site is just blocks from the World Trade Center and was the staging area where firefighters, police and Red Cross workers organized while taking on 24-hour recovery efforts.

The park has been designed, and will be donated in honor of the heroes of September 11. The ALCA is now seeking financial support for the park, which should be completed by September 11, 2004.

Funds raised will be used for labor and materials that can?EUR??,,????'???t be procured through in-kind donations, as well as to create an endowment for on-going maintenance of the park.

To make your donation log on to the www.alca.org

ACLA members are funding plans to turn what is now an overflow parking lot with degraded paving into a new NYC memorial in honor of September 11 heroes. A paved plaza will include a water feature and seating allowing visitors a place for reflection. Instead of designing a traditional fountain, water will continuously run over three boulders that will smignify the three areas of the country that were attacked (New York, Washington and Pennsylvania). All work on the park accomplished to date (site surveys, design, planning and city council meetings) has been through the generous donations by ALCA members.

About James Martin Associates

James Martin

Since 1977, James Martin Associates has provided award-winning landscape design, construction, and maintenance services to the Chicago area. Part of their organizational mission is to support the charitable interests of their employees, clients and community. At the 2004 Chicago Flower and Garden Show, JMA co-sponsored an ?EUR??,,????'??Enabling Garden?EUR??,,????'?? that included raised flower beds that require little kneeling and gardening tools that are easy to grip and maneuver.

Anyone driving past the Vernon Hills, Illinois JMA office last year couldn?EUR??,,????'???t miss the 17,000 pink impatiens they planted in support of ?EUR??,,????'??Pink Ribbon Plants,?EUR??,,????'?? the national program that supports the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

In the fall of 2002, JMA donated the landscape design as well as all plants and materials to landscape a duplex project taken on by the Lake County, Illinois Habitat for Humanity. Fifteen JMA employees volunteered their time and worked alongside 35 students from two area high schools to install the landscape for three duplex homes.

For more information on JMA log onto their company web site at www.jamesmartinassociates.com.