Dedicated to Preserving the Community

Dundee Memorial Park Association

Meetings and Newsletter. During the school year, the association sponsors monthly meetings at the Dundee Presbyterian Church, which feature guests such as the mayor, city council members, senators, home remodelers, historians, police and fire officers, humane society officials, environmentalists, tax assessors and other speakers of interest to the neighborhood. The association also produces a monthly 12 to 18-page newsletter which keeps residents informed of issues facing the area and upcoming events.

 

Activities. The association sponsors a home tour most years, an annual garage sale day with an average participation of about 100 families, a spring clean up day which provides dumpsters to neighbors, a holiday lighting contest each winter, and a guided trolley-driven history tour each summer. The association's volunteers care for the many gardens in the street islands by watering and weeding the sites each summer. A group of volunteers (light guardians) report on the condition of their streetlights and scrape and paint the poles when needed. The association has organized its volunteers to shovel snow from the sidewalks of neighbors unable to shovel. A library committee supports A.V. Sorensen Library and Recreation Center.

 

Problem Solving. In 1993, the problem solving committee met with Omaha Public Power District officials to stop the district's radical trimming of trees. This discussion helped form a better policy on tree trimming. The committee moderated neighbors when in 1996 a developer wanted to level Beth El Synagogue and construct 80 modern apartments in its place. After countless meetings with the city, the building was saved and renovated into low-density offices. At one point, it was rumored that the Aksarben complex was being turned into a casino. The association surveyed its members and found that the large majority did not favor a casino. Over 6,000 signatures opposing a casino and encouraging positive educational alternatives were collected in 48 hours and presented to state and local officials. The casino at Aksarben idea was scrapped and the University of Nebraska - Omaha constructed its technology center on the site.

 

Projects. The Association has succeeded in several major projects including purchasing and installing playground equipment at Elmwood Park, restoring the restrooms at the Memorial Park, renovating the Memorial Park Rose Garden and amphitheater, planting over 1,200 trees throughout the neighborhood, and renovating the business district in 1997 including the addition of new metal benches and a four-sided-illuminated-chiming street clock. In 2001-2002 the Association built a memorial to Omaha’s street cars at the corner of Underwood and Happy Hollow (the Streetcar Wall). The wall was built with the generous contributions of the membership and the support of the City of Omaha. In 2002-2003, the Association built a minipark on a City-owned corner at 48th and Underwood. The project included landscaping, a brick walkway, a cast iron bench and a Dundee-style street light. The project was funded, in part, by City of Omaha Community Improvement grants.

 

Flower Basket Program. In 1998, the association began a program of hanging flower baskets on streetlights throughout the neighborhood. The nearly 450 baskets filled with red begonias and dangling ivy were a success. The flower baskets and light poles were featured in post cards, t-shirts, and paintings. To support the on-going project, the association recruited a block captain to organize each block. Each year, these volunteers raise money, plant the baskets, and water them every day during the spring, summer and fall. Trucks, staffed by volunteers, affectionately called The Blossom Brigade, drive through the neighborhood each day supplementing the watering efforts of the neighbors and adding fertilizer. Some of the volunteers who roll through the neighborhood at 3:30 a.m. were awarded with the Earliest Awaking Residents Certificate at the Dundee Days festival. Each year, the 22,000 begonia plants in the flower baskets, take 400 pounds of fertilizer and over 225,000 gallons of water.

 

Awards. The Urban Community Improvement Program, a statewide colloquium of neighborhood associations, honored the association twelve times between 1996 and 1999. The awards were in areas of health and human services, economic development, cultural and recreational development, crime prevention, community involvement, and environmental improvement. The association was honored with the Project of the Century Award and on several occasions, the Neighborhood Excellence Award. The association has also received several honors from Cox Communications, the Omaha Public Schools, the United Way, the Knights of Aksarben, and the City of Omaha. The Association was awarded City of Omaha Community Improvement grants in 2002 and 2003.

On November 1, 2003, the association received the following awards by the Nebraska Urban Community Improvement Program (UCIP): (1) the Environmental Award for constructing and landscaping the 48 th and Underwood mini-park; (2) the Youth Development and Development Award for Sarah Newman's Dundee School Garden Project and our first annual Garden Walk; and (3) the 2003 Neighborhood Excellence Award for the combination of the mini-park project, the Old House Services Directory, and the Walking Tour Map.

Association Overview