WORCESTER – From now through the fall, a pair of large coffee cup-shaped flower beds will help brighten the neighborhood on Piedmont Street in Worcester.
Arthur Mooradian, owner of Mooradian Real Estate at 50 Piedmont St., orchestrated the design, construction and placement of the flower beds. But from start to finish, it was a community effort involving local businesses and neighborhood residents.
“Things are changing in Worcester and we’re doing what we can to go with the changes that are here,” Mooradian said. “We’re trying to improve the quality of life here and in other neighborhoods. There’s a lot of good people in these neighborhoods and that’s what it takes for a neighborhood to pick itself up.”
About three years ago, Mooradian purchased an old pipe shop at 28 Piedmont St. This past December, Mooradian brought some aged scrap metal to City Welding on Ararat Street to see if it was possible to shape the metal into planters shaped like coffee mugs.
A coffee mug promotion by Preservation Worcester had inspired Mooradian to create the larger-than-life mugs and turn them into planters on Piedmont St.
Once the planters were ready, they delivered them to Abrasive Blasting & Coating, Inc. on Sutton Lane to be sandblasted and painted.
Santos Colon, a Mooradian Real Estate team member, filled the mugs with stone, added a foot of loom and soil and planted flowers from Barrows Hardware on Webster Street.
Each planter weighs about 900 pounds and are made of 100% recycled materials, according to Mooradian.
“It was a real community effort. Just about everyone involved is from the neighborhood. All the work was done right here in Worcester,” Mooradian said.
Mooradian and his team placed the two mugs on Piedmont Street on July 2. Mooradian hopes to line the street with six more mugs in the future.
Lead image: A coffee cup-shaped planter in front of 28 Piedmont St. in Worcester/Patrick Sargent for ThisWeekinWorcester.com
