Downtown preparing for pollinators

City of West Plains crews remove rocks and distribute soil Friday morning along West Trish Knight Street in preparation for a new pollinator garden downtown. The garden was planned as collaboration between the city, West Plains Downtown Revitalization the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and Patricia Rodriguez’s third grade class at South Fork Elementary. Downtown Coordinator Emily Edwards-Long explained MDC is providing native plants through a cost-sharing partnership, and students will perform the planting in early May as a community project to meet state history standards. Once established, the city and West Plains Downtown will maintain the garden.