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What will it take to revive Springfield?

Lots of things, of course. Big things like construction of a $250 million hospital on 45 blighted acres downtown, the addition of hundreds of jobs to Navistar's local operations and the hundreds of spin-off jobs those will create, more high-tech businesses like Q-Base locating here and offering well-paid jobs, and support from philanthropic organizations with deep pockets like the Turner Foundation.

But it also takes ordinary people like Paulette Thomas who are determined to make a difference in their community.

Thomas wants to take 11 acres of honeysuckle-infested land along Buck Creek near downtown and turn it into Hollandia Botanical Gardens. It will be a public garden for all of Clark County, where people can walk or bicycle and enjoy the serene beauty of artfully designed settings. It will be a place for weddings and civic activities.

"Perhaps most important, the Garden will be a living symbol of community pride" was the way a publication produced by her organization described it.

"I started dreaming about it nine years ago," Thomas said, brushing dirt off of her jeans as she raked debris a handful of yards from the burbling Buck Creek.

Gardening runs in her blood. Her grandfather, Mark Aukeman, in 1915 founded Hollandia Gardens, a commercial nursery and greenhouse center. It was a time when greater Springfield grew and shipped so many flowers it became known as "Rose City."

Hollandia Gardens is gone now, but its name lives on in the organization that Thomas leads, Hollandia Botanical Gardens. And now her organization has a place to plant, thanks to the Springfield Conservancy District. And with seed money and other support from the Turner Foundation, Springfield Foundation and many others, they also have created a master plan and have hired Paul Parlato, a retired professor from Wittenberg University, as their executive director.

The envisioned Hollandia Botanical Gardens is located on a strip of land along Buck Creek between Sherman Avenue and Water Street. It doesn't look like much now, but it has a rich history. In 1841, foundry owner and inventor James Leffel built a 1 1/2-mile "race" on the banks of the creek that developed enough water power to propel 20 wheels. So much power was generated that cotton, woolen, oil, flour and saw mills, as well as other plants, sprang up to exploit the cheap energy produced by the innovative race.

Those mills are long gone now, as are houses and other structures that once stood along the creek. Today there's a bike path, second growth trees and lots of scrub brush.

With volunteer elbow grease, Thomas and her fellow enthusiasts have cleared vast numbers of invasive honeysuckle shrubs and planted 17,000 bulbs that now are blooming.

The bulbs aren't really part of the master plan, Thomas said. "It's just to give people an idea."

Phase 1 of the ambitious $7.1 million master plan, which can be seen at the organization's Web site, hollandiabotanical.com, would cost $2.4 million.

That's a lot of money to raise in a community with as many needs as Springfield now faces. Parlato hopes to carve out a smaller piece of that first phase that can be done for maybe $1 million.

"We want to get something started," he explained, to show the community what could be.

"I want a space that will be enchanting and romantic," Thomas mused the other day as she and a handful of volunteers prepared the site for this weekend's Second Annual Bulb Festival. "Some people said it was a pipe dream. That made me mad and made me work harder."

I've been around long enough to know that passion can carry you a long way, especially when leavened with a little bit of luck and support from friends.

If you get a chance, stop by Saturday or Sunday. There will be music, food, vendors and presentations on various gardening topics. You can buy some high-quality bulbs.

What you'll also see are possibilities, and people with the passion to make them happen.

Steve Sidlo is editor and publisher of the Springfield News-Sun.

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