FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): Eleven neighborhood associations in Fort Wayne will be getting grants from the city to improve their communities.

Mayor Tom Henry announced that the Community Development Division’s Neighborhood Improvement Grant Program chose the projects that would best beautify public spaces and strengthen community involvement.

Grants for up to $5,000 went to projects that include a new 30-foot by 80-foot mural on Wells Street in the Bloomingdale Neighborhood, the addition of a historical marker along Fairfield Avenue to honor the former Packard Piano and Organ Company, and repairs for the Oxford Community Center.

See the full list below:

• Bloomingdale Neighborhood – Installation of a 30-foot by 80-foot mural at 1434 Wells Street. The mural will depict a wildlife scene in Fort Wayne at sunset and will include images of the confluence of the City’s three rivers and native flowers (representing the neighborhood’s history as a field of flowers). The grant is for $5,000.
• Nebraska Neighborhood – Installation of a new neighborhood marker that will also welcome visitors to the Historic West Main Street business district.  The grant is for $3,900.
• Lafayette Place Improvement Association – Installation of a neighborhood marker at the intersection of Pettit Avenue and Calhoun Street.  In addition to the sign, the neighborhood will add landscaping to this once blighted vacant lot.  The grant is for $3,707.78.
• West Central Neighborhood – Fabrication and installation of more than a dozen pole-mounted signs throughout West Central.  These will help to identify and celebrate the neighborhood.  The grant is for $5,000.
• Southwest Area Partnership (Working with the Packard Area Planning Alliance) – Fabrication and installation of a historical marker that recognizes the former Packard Piano and Organ Company.  The marker will be located along Fairfield Avenue in Packard Park where the piano company factory once stood. The grant is for $1,526.
• Oxford Community Association – Purchase and installation of a heating and air system for the Oxford Community Center.  The community center is currently undergoing extensive remodeling in order to better meet the needs of residents in Oxford. The grant is for $5,000.
• Historic Fairmont Neighborhood – Installation of a mural on the side of Tasty Pizza (corner of Fairfield Avenue and Maxine Drive).  The grant is for $5,000.
• Pettit-Rudisill Neighborhood – Replace an existing sign in a neighborhood-owned pocket park at the southeast corner of Rudisill Boulevard and Robinwood Drive.  The grant is for $492.12.
• Historic South Wayne Neighborhood – Fabrication and installation of seven pole-mounted signs to celebrate and help identify the neighborhood.  The grant is for $1,184.
• Williams Woodland (WWP) Park Neighborhood – Collaborating with Simpson United Methodist Church, WWP will transform an underutilized parking lot into a recreational greenspace called Peace Park. The grant is for $5,000.
• Mount Vernon Park Neighborhood – Fabrication and installation of two neighborhood markers.   The grant is for $4,800.