61st Street Community Garden Has No Plans To Die On the Vine

By Camela Furry in News on Nov 11, 2009 3:40PM

In 2000, the University of Chicago granted area residents access to a two-acre plot of land on 61st and Dorchester to develop a community garden. Over nearly ten years time, the garden has taken on a life of its own under the loving care of area gardeners who have cultivated not only their 10' x 10' plots but unexpected friendships along the way.

But earlier this year the university announced it plans to use the two acres as a temporary staging area for the construction of the new Chicago Theological Seminary. There was never a formal agreement in place between U of C and the people it allowed to use the land but a spokesman for the university told the Sun-Times that it was understood that "at some point, the university would need that land."

Jamie Kalven, an advocate for preserving the Community Garden and expanding community gardening in Woodlawn/Hyde Park area, reached out to U of C administrators to uncover the university's biggest concerns with keeping the garden intact. For starters, the university is concerned that if they allow the garden to continue on until the plan to build on the site is final, the gardeners will become more entrenched and resistant; attempting to negotiate an agreement between the parties to lay out a transition plan would mean "the garden" would need some kind of formal structure to make the agreement meaningful and enforceable. And, of course, money comes into play. The university is concerned that if the garden is open during construction, there may be claims from gardeners that the construction affected their crops or their health adversely. And the potential of keeping the garden in place but reconfiguring it, an example offered as an alternative approach, may come down to the cost the university would ultimately bear.

The U of C Friends of the Community Garden is holding a meeting Thursday evening November 12th at 6 p.m. at the Carnegie School with Ald. Willie Cochran who will take the lead in the process to achieve resolution with the university.