Calgary woman brightens downtown community with decorated birdhouses and planters

After living in the west side of downtown Calgary for more than a decade, community member Christine Bolcsfoldy decided it was time to spruce up her street.

"I want to make my home a nice place. And in the last few years, it's become so tense for a lot of people here and unwelcoming between just crime and people struggling," she said.

Last year, she took it upon herself to add some life to the planters along Seventh Avenue S.W. near Ninth Street. 

"I was so tired of seeing these desolate, empty planters that got abandoned by the city that I just decided if they don't care enough to pick up the garbage or clean them up, then they're not going to care if I plant anything in them," said Bolcsfoldy, who works full time in the trades and is studying to get her journeyman ticket.

This summer, she is taking things up a notch by decorating birdhouses and hanging them up in trees along her street. 

"I want to put a smile on people's face when they walk by," said Bolcsfoldy, who pays for the plants and birdhouses out-of-pocket. 

Over the past month she has made four birdhouses, each with its own theme: a fairy cottage-style house, a 1970s camper-style house with wood panelling, a late 1980s-inspired birdhouse complete with vinyl siding and sparkly stucco, and a bumblebee-style house as a "nod to the pollinators in the area."

She also put more wildflowers in the planters near her building as a food source for the bees.

"I am very crafty. I love working on new arts and crafts and projects. But the birdhouses sort of just came to me when I was walking around the craft store, like a little light bulb going off," she said.

Making neighbourhoods more vibrant

In addition to planting flowers and making birdhouses to deck out her neighbourhood, Bolcsfoldy also regularly leaves fresh water bottles in the planters along her street for anyone who needs one. 

"Maybe someone's having a really tough time and having that water bottle will help. Or maybe if someone had a rough day at work and seeing a cute, silly, little birdhouse will make them smile for a minute and that makes it better," she said.

There have been a few "speed bumps" since she has started this project, with incidents of people ripping out bedding fillers out of the planters and throwing them on the road.

However, "some lovely people" from local gardening groups helped her get more plants to replace the ruined ones, said Bolcsfoldy. Now, with more wildflowers in the planters, she thinks it will be harder for people to rip out the bedding fillers and vandalize them.

Terry Wong, city councillor for the area, said the city likes seeing Calgary "revitalized in many different ways."

"Putting these handcrafted creations is a great way of demonstrating both what Calgary is all about, as well as the artistry of our citizens," he said.

Bolcsfoldy hopes to continue adding more birdhouses to her area, but in the meantime, she is already fielding requests from people interested in doing the same thing in other neighbourhoods.

"Maybe there's more people who would like to participate in this and make our neighbourhoods more vibrant," she said.