Mundelein receives national recognition from America in Bloom

MUNDELEIN – At the 2023 America in Bloom symposium and awards celebration held recently in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the village of Mundelein was the winner of the 25,000-30,000 Population Category Award.

America in Bloom evaluates communities on seven focus areas/criteria: community vitality, overall impression, environmental initiatives, heritage celebration, urban forestry, landscaped areas and floral impact.

In addition to the award, Mundelein earned the Better Together national award for the “best example of public/private partnership” for Mundelein’s Business Incentive Grant program.

The BIG program continues to benefit Mundelein businesses financially and the overall community aesthetically. Since the program’s inception in 2015, 65 businesses have received BIG Program funds. Mundelein has awarded $604,773 in BIG Program grants, bringing the combined community investment to well over $3 million.

Mundelein also received special recognition for its community vitality from its advisers. Rod Barnes and Kristina Whitney, AIB advisers, spent two days in the summer touring the community and meeting municipal officials, residents and volunteers. America in Bloom is the only national awards program that sends specially trained advisers to personally visit participants. In addition, each participant receives a detailed written evaluation that can be used as a guide to future improvements.

“Mundelein is honored to receive this recognition from America in Bloom,” Mayor Steve Lentz said in a news release. “I congratulate the Mundelein Beautification Committee, the Mundelein Arts Commission, Mundelein Public Works and Engineering, the Mundelein Historical Commission and all our volunteers and village staff. Collectively, they have collaborated in large and small ways to position Mundelein to be showcased on a national platform. On behalf of the board of trustees, we express our thanks to AIB for their site visit and for sharing their expertise with us. We are committed to continuing Mundelein’s beautification initiatives.”

America in Bloom empowers communities to beautify and improve the overall quality of life through programs, grant opportunities, resources library and more. Over the past two years, Mundelein has been awarded two $25,000 grants.

One grant was used to fund a portion of the landscape improvements at the north and south overpasses on Route 45. The other grant partially funded Mundelein’s new pollinator garden located at the forthcoming Courtland Commons community gathering space and park.

More than 330 communities from 43 states have participated in the America in Bloom program and more than 22 million people have been touched by it. Registration for the 2024 program can be submitted until Feb. 28, 2024. Eligible participants include towns, cities, college and university campuses, business districts, military installations and recognized neighborhoods of large cities.