The Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA) awarded the first of several Capital Improvement and Beautification Grants to the East Village Association (EVA), DLBA President and CEO Kraig Kojian announced yesterday. The EVA’s Alleyway Beautification Project will include numerous art components procured and produced by local artists, lighting, pavement resurfacing and more improvements to the underutilized alleyway connecting Elm and Linden Avenues between 1st Street and Broadway.
 
In December 2011, the DLBA launched a pilot grant program designed to provide financial support for physical and beautification projects within the Downtown area. The program is intended to beautify Downtown, enhance public safety or expand accessibility. With this grant to the EVA, the DLBA has begun implementing its newest vehicle for partnering with associations, organizations or entities interested in making physical improvements within Downtown.
 
A total of $14,500 involving two separate grant applications was awarded to the EVA, which is serving as the lead organization to enhance the little-used East Alta Way alley. Efforts to improve the safety in this alleyway, as well as remove the visual blight, began in 2011 and the EVA is now breaking ground on the initiative’s final phases.
 
The upcoming art components of the beautification project include a large scale mural painted by Long Beach artist Doug Kurtz. The mural will face northward and feature some of Downtown’s most notable buildings, as well as the neighborhood’s arts district moniker. Additional art components include six metal art sculptures made from reusable materials crafted by local artist and East Village business owner Jeremy West, of Primal Flower. Berlin, another East Village business, will donate their leftover coffee cans to West for use as the raw materials for sculpting the environmentally-friendly art pieces. This fresh approach to material “up-use” is a creative and sustainable update to conventional concepts of recycling.
 
The EVA will also use the DLBA grant money to resurface the pavement in the alleyway, add additional lighting, and place an additional granite table and chairs, planters, and signage in the space. All of these individual steps will come together to adorn the former utilitarian alley, while creating a safer and more pleasant experience for pedestrians.