At the city-sponsored I Planter Decatur sale, the 143 planters are saying goodbye for the last time. This week, several that were damaged or defaced were sold on eBay. More planters in brand-new condition will now be up for sale at Decatur Public Works on Saturday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
The city planted the planters in 2019 with the intention of using them as a creative and colorful safety measure that would protect pedestrians from cars by reducing the street’s four lanes to two.
The Decatur city logo was the source of the red, orange, blue, and pink hues. However, they were always intended to be transient. This summer, they will be replaced by a permanent barrier that will cost $1.9 million.
The planters didn’t quite take off, despite being intended as an entertaining method to slow down traffic.
Connie Pike, a retired speech pathologist who has lived in Decatur for five years, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “My first impression when the planters were installed was how tacky they were.”
The issue worsened over time, with planters tilted and wilting in the sun, and plants dying or being overtaken by weeds. It embarrassed me and was a joke around Decatur. She continued, “I thought it diminished the area’s quality.”
According to Assistant City Manager of Public Works Cara Scharer, the boxes were intended to improve the streetscape by being planted with wildflowers and miniature trees. Rather, they became the subject of arguments, memes, and mockery. Additionally, they struck numerous car bumpers.
“There have been many lessons learned, and maintenance definitely became more complicated than originally anticipated,” Scharer said.
Although Pike is glad to see them leave, he found it absurd that anyone would want to own one. Instead, Decatur should pay people to remove the planters from their hands, she said on the city’s Facebook page.
“I definitely wouldn’t want one in my yard,” Pike remarked. When I don’t have to drive past them any more, it will be a joyful day.
They weren’t despised by everyone.
Don Rigger, who has lived next to the avenue for 40 years, remarked, “I mean, they’re better than concrete jersey barriers.”
Although he has no interest in buying one, he supports the auction as a means of preventing plastic from ending up in landfills.
Before the auction, Hannah Rogers, who works at Emory University and has lived in Decatur for more than 15 years, approached the city to inquire about purchasing the planters. Before the online auction ended on Thursday, she ended up placing a bid on a teal planter and stated that she would be prepared to go up to $100.
Scharer said that the sale was motivated by these requests.
A blue planter was bid on by Brendan Gardes, a sustainability consultant who has been a city dweller for over ten years.
“I think that demonstrates why they were placed there in the first place, so I like the idea of having one of the damaged ones,” he said.
The majority of the planter boxes cost $50. It’s another contentious issue.
According to Gardes, purchasing a brand-new planter would cost at least that amount.
Like many Decatur locals, Gardes has a bumper sticker with the Decatur artist Huckleberry Starnes’ planter city logo. Starnes hates the nickname that the locals gave him: “the planter guy.”
Ozzy Osbourne, the late rock star, once quipped that his gravestone would be “his birth, his death, and biting the head off a bat.” He recently learned about this.
“I think that will be my eulogy,” Starnes said. longtime Decatur resident. The planter guy, too.
