The end of a community garden

Had this sad memo forwarded to me:

Demolition of the 61st Street Community Garden -- 10/07/09

Dear Community Gardeners --

We are sad to have to tell you that the University of Chicago has informed us they will not change their plans to demolish the garden, nor delay the demolition date, nor continue any further discussions. The stated reason is that the garden space is essential to the construction of the new Chicago Theological Seminary building at the southeast corner of 60th and Dorchester. They have said they intend to begin the demolition shortly after Halloween.
We had hoped to convince the University that the value of the garden outweighed the practical construction convenience. We argued that there are reasonable construction alternatives more gentle than demolition. In the end we were unable to persuade the University. The final decision was made at the highest administrative level. Although we do not yet have other sites to relocate gardeners, we are working on a number of possibilities.

In the meantime, we will be at the garden on Sunday, October 18 and 25, 10:00 to 4:00, with a pick-up truck to help gardeners relocate the hardware items (trellises, cold frames, etc.) and perennial plants they wish to save. And on Sunday, November 1, same hours, we will have the last garden BBQ and pot-luck.

We hope the 61st Street Community Garden has given you as much joy as it has given us,

-- Connie Spreen

-- Dan Peterman

-- Jamie Kalven

-- Jack Spicer

To me, this is terribly sad. But it underscores the crucial importance of getting control of any land on which you start a community garden.

Many gardens are started on vacant lots, either with or without the permission of a landlord who doesn't have any immediate use for the parcel. But over time -- often after the community garden has thrived for many years and given many people joy -- the owner does come to have a use for the land. And in my experience, the neighbors' pleasure and benefit from a garden never wins over the interests of the property owner who paid for the land and pays the taxes, presumably because he or she expected to have a use for it in the long run.

I grew up in Hyde Park in urban renewal days when there were vacant lots all over. Many were colonized by enthusiastic gardeners. Almost all those lots are built up now. It is the nature of neighborhoods to change.

Conflicts such as this one at the 61st Street garden contributed to the founding of organizations such as NeighborSpace and the Community Greening program at Openlands. Among other things, they can advise would-be community gardeners on figuring out who owns the land, what might happen to it in the future and possibly how to get control of it. It's crucial to remember: Don't expect a garden to go on forever on land you don't own.

That's a hard thing to say to a gardener, or to someone burning with enthusiasm to convert a rubble-strewn gang hangout into a place that a community cares for and watches over. It's like trying to convince someone who's fallen madly in love to slow down and think it through. But like swept-away love affairs, hasty community gardens often end badly.

Still, I hope at least some of those Hyde Park and Woodlawn gardeners find spaces for their cold frames and perennials before spring. If not? I can testify it's certainly possible to grow tomatoes in containers on a 3rd-floor porch.

Got a garden question? I recommend you call or e-mail the Plant Clinic of The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, the Master Gardeners of the University of Illinois Extension or the Plant Information Service of the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe .

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