Mayor Keefe visits newly beautified traffic island and praises workers for their efforts
By Cary Shuman
Mayor Patrick Keefe made a special visit to Dale Street to view the traffic island that Revere neighbors are calling “a botanical masterpiece.”
Keefe met with Frankie Ippolito, owner of Ippolito Snow Services, and his employees at their ‘adopted’ island.
Some residents are saying that the newly transformed island is similar in beauty and pageantry to the floral display that greets visitors at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Orlando. Keefe offered his praise and gratitude on behalf of the city.
“You go above and beyond, and I don’t want this work to go unrecognized,” Keefe told Ippolito. “If everyone took the time and care to their property and to things like this that you did, it would be a wonderful thing for our city. So I know that neighbors appreciate it and they’ve called our office and Councillor Paul Argenzio and told us how much that they appreciate the care that your team puts into it – they said specifically that your employees treat this island like they live here. I say that as a testament to your work and your team. Thank you from the City of Revere.”
A former superintendent of the Revere Department of Public Works, Argenzio was “part of the group that got the adopted island [project] started.”
“You’ve done a great job, and I know how hard it is to keep it going without the water supply,” said Argenzio. “Thank you very much.”
Ippolito said his company adopted the Dale Street traffic island three years ago, building each year toward a modern version of “a 16th-century English knot garden.”
“Because it’s a fast space that people [motorists] go by and it’s a quick impact, we did very bold colors,” said Ippolito. “An English knot garden is something that people would walk around and look at, so it’s all segmented and everything goes into a compartment. The hedges create rooms, and each room has a color in it.”
Ippolito revealed that most of flowers are “sunpatiens, which will take you right to the frost-growing season. Their abundance will keep blooming throughout the season.”
How long will the traffic island maintain its current beauty?
“The colors will probably last until the first frost [mid-October according to long-range forecasts],” said Ippolito. “
Ippolito deflected the praise from Mayor Keefe and Councillor Argenzio to Juan Lopez, lead horticulturist for the project, and Richard Batista, chief gardener, who are also overseeing the maintenance.
Ippolito said his company funds the traffic island project and “in return, the city allows us to put our name and sign on it for an advertising standpoint.”
Don Martelli, who lives nearby on Dale Street, said the gateway from Chelsea into Revere looks, “beautiful.”
“Every time I drive up and down the street, it reminds me of what I should be planting or not be planting, because it’s a bit of a guide for what’s coming up next,” said Martelli. “It’s a beautiful welcoming point into our city and it’s a great exit as you leave into Chelsea. It’s a great showcase for our local businesses. Every year it gets better, it’s beautiful, colorful – it’s a very creative space, which I love. He’s [Ippolito] done a great job. It makes the neighborhood look beautiful. It’s fantastic.”
