Brian Estes from the South Perry Farmers Market had a lot to say about a proposed community garden in Grant Park, after Jerry Numbers reminded people that there are already several community gardens in East Central:
The city water department already has two community garden on their property and the same model may be applied to park land - "And they bit," said Estes.
The Parks Department is working on putting together a policy for community gardens on park land, and a pilot project is being put together featuring the proposed community garden in Grant Park.
Estes has a long list of people and organizations who have offered their expertise developing a project like this and people and companies who have offered in-kind donations of work and materials.
It looks like there may be a $2,500 grant available from the SRHD to get the garden started - the grant will be channeled through the Neighborhood Matters program.
The layout of the garden is not determined yet - at this point there is a lot of ideas being tossed around and the planning of the project will include a LOT of neighborhood input.
WSU design students are ready to start helping the project in March.
Estes explained that the Parks Department insists on there being a fiscal agent, an organization, that is responsible for the project and for the maintenance of the gardens in an appropriate manner. He'd like for SPBNA to be that fiscal agent, because that would make the community garden a project that's closely connected to the neighborhood.
It's been proposed that Grant Elementary starts a garden club. The school uses the park for a lot of activities and physical education projects during school days - that must be taken into consideration, said Jerry Numbers. He added that it's important that the project is connected to the East Central Neighborhood Council. Conveniently, Numbers is the new president of the East Central Neighborhood Council.