KTKA

The park is in the 1100 block of Washburn and was once home to several rundown houses. One neighbor says this is a dream come true.

It's been eight years in the making. And finally it's become a reality. This area is being transformed into a park. L J Polly is with the Elmhurst Neighborhood Association. For him, it was an unexpected surprise.

He says, "This green space was once eleven seriously deteriorated, I would call, slum houses."

Members of Keep America Beautiful and Westar employees volunteered their time and landscaping skills. Philicia McKee gave them just one day to make it happen.

"Sometimes you get into projects and you think, 'I don't know if we can get all this done in one day,' but I think we're going to make it happen with this many hands," she says.

"This is the first time I've ever done anything like this. I'm pretty proud of what we're doing and I'm going to drive by and point it out whenever I'm with anybody and show them what we did," says Ashley Crary.

The project is a joint effort between Keep America Beautiful and the City. Bill Riphahn with Parks and Recreation says most of the materials were donated or bought through a grant. Much of the dirt came from the College Hill area.

"We're pretty good scroungers in the Parks Department. We've always gotten by on very little," says Riphahn.

Westar employees are using the project as a team building exercise. But for Kim Savage it's a way to give back.

"The community does so much for us. And they need our help. We want this to be a great city to live in," Savage says.

Keep America Beautiful will be painting over graffiti this Saturday. You can help out by showing up at the Law Enforcement Unit at 1 p.m.