For more than 60 years, Keep Peoria Beautiful has been a catalyst for drawing together governmental agencies, civic organizations, and volunteers to make an impact on a variety of city-wide beautification projects.

Our Mission

Keep Peoria Beautiful is a volunteer, not-for-profit organization established to improve the environment of the Peoria area through beautification, litter prevention, waste reduction, recycling, and education. Keep Peoria Beautiful is the local affiliate of the national Keep America Beautiful® organization.

2020 Board of directors

President: Kayse Doering
Vice President: Jim Kosner
Secretary: Jarrod Martis
Treasurer: Alex MacDonald
Board Member Emeritus:
Alicia Turner

Board Members:

Cory Blankenship
Michael Brooks
Kaylee Drea
Darren Graves
Jacob Heck
Lauren Howell
Lueshand Nunn
John Rogers
Diane Wagner-Larson

OUR HISTORY

Keep Peoria Beautiful was founded in 1955 following a newspaper campaign lead by columnist Jocelyn Gerry of the Peoria Journal Star, asking for help in beautifying the City of Peoria . Under the sponsorship of the Women’s Civic Federation, civic, business and governmental leaders formed a steering committee that resulted in a permanent organization being formed. 

Since then, Keep Peoria Beautiful has initiated numerous beautification projects, established recycling drop-off sites, developed pocket parks, sponsored public art, bestowed landscape and beautification awards, conducted environmental education and awareness, coordinated city-wide cleanups and riverfront beautification, all in an effort to make Peoria a more attractive place to live and work. In 1981, the organization became the local affiliate of Keep America Beautiful.

In 2008, Peoria City Beautiful changed its name to Keep Peoria Beautiful to become more aligned with Keep America Beautiful. 

What We've Achieved

  • Presented the first annual landscape awards in 1963 for outstanding landscaping and beautification efforts for commercial projects, industry, institutions, churches, schools, parking lots and civic or public projects.

  • Established the historical Giant Burr Oak Park and adjoining land for a park overlooking the city.

  • Driving force behind developing the Peoria County Courthouse plaza. In 1965, Lady Bird Johnson dedicated the courthouse plaza.

  • KPB, in partnership with Peoria County, PARC, Illinois EPA, and City of Peoria has provided 17 recycling containers in the downtown area available for public use. You may have noticed our green metal containers along the sidewalk in front of the Civic Center.

  • KPB has partnered with Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC), along with local companies/organizations, residents and United Way's GEN U to provide landscape designs, planting material and physical labor for more then 10 houses in the East Bluff and South Side Neighborhood.

  • Thanks to a $2,000 grant from the Illinois EPA, KPB was able to provide landscaping in front of the Peoria Public Library Lakeview Branch and Peoria Players Theater. What a difference a few hours of work can make on a highly visible area of our community! 

  • Partnered with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Illinois® to provide landscaping and design assistance for the new Peoria House - at no cost to RMHCCI.