MANSFIELD — Two America in Bloom judges had the chance to tour Mansfield on Monday. Their visit was triggered by Mansfield’s inaugural involvement in America in Bloom, which sponsors an annual competition among participating communities throughout the country.
Judges review and evaluate communities in four sectors: municipal, commercial, residential, and community involvement. Evaluations are based on six criteria: floral displays, landscaped areas, urban forestry, environmental efforts, heritage preservation, and overall impression.
Overall, the judges’ comments were positive at the conclusion of day one.
It was Maryland resident Ed Hooker’s first time in Mansfield. He arrived Sunday and was sad to see that most of the downtown establishments were closed; however, on Monday, he said the downtown was vibrant and that he had a great day thus far.
Hooker currently serves as the first historical architect of the National Cemetery Administration for Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C. He previously served as historic architect for the Mobile Historic Development Commission and has worked with the Alabama Historical Commission and the Alabama State Historic Preservation Office. He’s been a judge for two years.
His specialty is historic preservation, he said, noting, “I pay particular interest to downtown streetscapes, commercial buildings and residential buildings… It’s been interesting to see the different architectural styles and periods, and there are some amazing buildings here.”
He was impressed by the work done by Mechanics Bank downtown. “How they’ve developed a whole block and restored the storefronts and stayed true to the character of the street,” he said.
And about the Renaissance Theatre, he said, “It’s great to have an asset like that in your community.”
Fellow judge Alex Pearl of Centerville, Ohio said he’s visited Mansfield a number of times.
“I’m seeing things that I hadn’t been introduced to before,” he said. “Having not previously driven through some of your residential communities, now we had the opportunity to do that and see some wonderful, well-maintained homes and the increase in value for your housing stock, so we’re seeing some great things happening here.”
Pearl is a retired horticulture educator. He holds two degrees in the subject and has been judging with America in Bloom since its beginning.
On Sunday the judges were given a special tour at the Ohio State Reformatory and saw old photos of the historic prison.
“The work that has been done to create what we see today and what the public sees today is remarkable,” Pearl said. “That’s a remarkable structure built at a time when the intricacies of architecture were different than what they are today.
“It’s a great community asset.”
Pearl’s interest was also piqued when he saw that a vintage baseball game was being played just outside the Reformatory.
“It’s an element of the past and you don’t see enough of that — baseball played according to the rules of the 1850-1860s,” he said.
Pearl also spoke positively of Central Park and the addition of musical playground equipment for children.
“This is Mansfield’s first year in America in Bloom and they’ve only been working on it since February, which is pretty remarkable to see what they’ve been able to pull together from a community volunteer standpoint,” Hooker said.
He commended all the volunteers for their time and effort in beautifying Mansfield, using city employees, who spiffed up the flowerbeds outside the municipal building, as an example.
“They did that all on their own time,” he said. “So that’s the kind of momentum that we hope America in Bloom will bring to the community.”
The judges will create a report, giving the community a bloom rating (1-5) based on its score. The report will be released sometime in October and will include comments on what the city did well and suggestions for improvement.
Doug Versaw, convener of the Richland Community Development Group’s Beautification Sector, said he’s looking forward to seeing their comments.
“This is how we learn and this is how we get better,” he said.
He said Mansfield has already signed on for another year in America in Bloom.
“This is our first year and we want to do this at least five years,” he said. “I think the for the time that we had to get organized and do what we did, I think we did pretty good (for the first year).”
Judges will continue touring Mansfield on Tuesday and visit such places as the fairgrounds, Oak Hill Cottage, the Blust Avenue Teaching Garden, the Ritter House, the Mansfield Block House, the Richland B&O Trail at North Lake Park, among others.
