Input needed to turn former Lincoln School site into urban garden


WANT TO GO?

WHAT: Lincoln Hill Farm and Park input meeting

WHEN: Feb. 1, 7 p.m.

WHERE:  Ruskin Elementary School, 407 Ambrose Ct.

INFO:  east-end.org | Facebook

A former Dayton school site could soon be blooming again.

A partnership between the University of Dayton and several Twin Towers neighborhood organizations is seeking feedback for a master design plan to turn the former Lincoln Elementary School site at 401 Nassau St. into an urban agriculture education center and community green space.

Neighborhood residents and interested Daytonians can attend an input meeting on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. at Ruskin Elementary School, 407 Ambrose Ct., to submit ideas for how the landscape architects could turn the five-acre property into a natural education center, urban garden, play area, and more.

East End Community Services, who purchased the property from Dayton Public Schools in 2015, is hosting the event along with its partners, the University of Dayton's Hanley Sustainability Institute, the Mission of Mary Cooperative, and the Twin Towers Neighborhood Association.

The idea of developing an urban agricultural center on the former school site has been fermenting for a couple of years already, though the partners had an initial meeting about the project last spring, said Kate Ervin, East End’s director of community development.

“We’re hoping that a lot of southeast Dayton resident show up on Monday to share their ideas,” she said.

The Mission of Mary Cooperative, which already operates three urban gardens in the Twin Towers neighborhood, plans to use a portion of the site to build hoop houses for food production, Ervin said. The Hanley Sustainability Institute would use it as an educational tool for how to do urban farming, and to learn more about sustainability. The plan is for it to be a community space for southeast Dayton, possibility with a community garden and natural play areas.

“The neighbors really want to see 4-H-type activities return to the area, where you can learn about nature,” Ervin said.

The partners hope to get the site designed in phases before the summer, but are hoping to identify the growing sites and have activity on the site as early as March. But a ballpark estimate of when the project could be complete depends on what the master plan turns out to be, and other challenges.

“We do have some challenges, like the site doesn’t have normal soil conditions,” Ervin said.

This would be one of the first projects to come out of the Hanley Sustainability Institute, which was established in 2014 with a $12.5 million gift from the George and Amanda Hanley Foundation, the largest gift in university history. Ervin said some funding for the project will come out of the Institute, and the partnership is currently seeking other funding options.

Nearby in the Huffman Historic District, another group is hard at work at building the Urban Renewal Farm (TURF) to provide more urban gardening options for Daytonians. Learn about TURF and meet the man in charge, Jim Wellman.

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