ABOUT
"Grassroots Preservation is empty pocketbooks, bloody fingers, and private satisfactions. It is long hours, hard work, and no pay. It is a personal dialogue with ghosts. It is a face-to-face confrontation with the past... It is an equation between self and history so powerful that it makes us lie down in front of bulldozers, raise toppled statues, salvage old boats."
Peter Neill
Director of the World Ocean Observatory
THE HANOVER SQUARE FOUNTAIN.
In 2005, a group of Old Town Brunswick homeowners got together to ask themselves, “What if…?”
What if we could clean up the squares? What if we could restore the public green spaces to the beauty and purpose of the Colonial founders?
What if we started right now?
The answers to those questions inspired the formation of Signature Squares of Brunswick, Inc. Led by founders Julie Hunter Martin and LuAnn Whalen, the organization soon grew in strength, and in numbers. Following plans drawn by founding member landscape architect Jerry Spencer, Signature Squares set out to transform neglected and underutilized spaces into garden spots for the city.
The work began with a plan to replace the broken fountain in Hanover Square, repair the walkways and replant the garden areas. Their mission also includes an educational platform through interpretive signage. The initial scope of work totaled $40,000. The City of Brunswick approved matching funds toward 50% of that cost and the project was started in early 2006. Encouraged by the success of the projects, the group moved forward with revitalization plans for downtown “pocket parks” along Newcastle Street and a beautification of Blythe Square
off Gloucester Street.
Signature Squares has no paid staff, no overhead and relies on funding for revitalization projects being supplied by the generous contributions
from citizens, local businesses, garden clubs, and foundations; grants, strategic partnerships and in-kind services. 100% of all donations go toward restoration projects. Volunteers
from all over the county show up for workdays to plant flowers and other plant materials. Today, downtown visitors, shoppers, residents and business people enjoy the results of their work.
Work continues along the business corridor as well as
residential
park areas. Our mission has grown to include educating the public about the history of our city. The vision of the colonial founders is well on its way to realization, with green space for all to enjoy.
