SEBASTIAN — The offices that Keep Indian River Beautiful once filled at the former Sebastian City Hall complex are now vacant and dark and a recycle bin in front of the door collects random pieces of trash.
The county organization responsible for bringing awareness to the environment has moved out and set up shop at the Indian River Mall in hopes of generating more interest and getting more foot traffic. “We love Sebastian,” KIRB Executive Director Kristy Sturdivant said, but when mall officials made an off-hand comment about relocating to the mall, “I jumped on it.”
For the last three or four years, Keep Indian River Beautiful has been located in the rear building of the City Hall Complex, behind where the Sebastian River Art Club meets.
KIRB has also had locations in Vero Beach, but now hopes to settle in for the long haul at the Indian River Mall.
“This is where we plan to stay,” Sturdivant said.
The new location offers higher visibility, which could yield more volunteers, opportunities for classes and workshops and even donated items that can be turned into crafts instead of winding up in the land fill.
“We have extended our hours due to popular demand,” Kristy Sturdivant said, by being at the mall.
Keep Indian River Beautiful is now able to operate Tuesdays through Fridays from 2 to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Though the mall offers the potential for more passersby, the new space is much smaller than what KIRB enjoyed at Old Sebastian City Hall.
“We had to pare down a lot,” Sturdivant said, explaining that volunteers had to assess what items they were going to store for teachers’ craft projects and what items they were going to recycle.
“It would just kind of collect and multiply like gremlins,” she added. “That stuff just piles up in the landfill.”
KIRB operates the Reuse Exchange Center, which provides a place for people to drop off would-be trash items that could be turned into arts and crafts by teachers, students, artists, and non-profit groups.
As part of the Reuse Exchange Center, Sturdivant said KIRB is offering craft classes for both the youth and the elders in the community.
Class information is available at KIRB’s office, which is located near Macy’s.
Now that KIRB is settled in at the mall, Sturdivant said they are working on plans for the 25th annual International Coastal Cleanup, which is scheduled for Sept. 25.
Sturdivant said they are scouting locations to concentrate the cleanup efforts and are hoping to have more volunteers than the 600 they had last year.
“Everyone’s so concerned” about the beaches, “especially with the oil spill,” she said.
Anyone wanting to help Keep Indian River Beautiful or wanting to learn more can visit www.KIRB.org or call (772) 226-7738.
