News Photo by Temi Fadayomi From left, Alpena County Sheriff Erik Smith (far left), Curt Doan, Rissa Leeseberg, and Doug Pratt pose for a photo inside the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday.

ALPENA — On Thursday, Doug Pratt, owner of PRATTScape Design, and other local business owners and affiliates along with the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office held a celebration to commemorate the successful completion of the landscaping upgrade for the Sheriff’s Office on M-32 West.

In early July, Pratt approached Alpena County Sheriff Erik Smith about landscaping the front of the office building to which Smith agreed.

“I drive by here [the Sheriff’s Office] every day and for three years it looked like a pole barn,” Pratt said about the inspiration for the landscaping project. “I knew we could do better so I stopped and asked him [Sheriff Smith] if he wanted to partner with us to do something with the building, and he said absolutely.”

The project cost roughly $10,000 with $7,500 of it coming from donations from PRATTScape Design, Home Depot, Fitzpatrick’s Hardware, T.J. Hoes State Farm, Nicolet Bank, and Curt Doan Excavating and $2,500 coming from Alpena County.

Inmates from the Alpena County Jail were utilized for manual labor on the project, which included removing grass, planting trees, and moving stones. The upgrades to the land include seven trees, 21 shrubs, 12 perennials, split rail fencing, and 10 yards of stone.

To celebrate the project’s success, Smith invited Pratt along with the other contributors to the building where they were given a tour of the jail. Curt Doan, owner of Curt Doan Excavating, and Rissa Leeseberg, branch manager of Nicolet National Bank also attended the celebration.