Until Friday, there was a community garden at Central Avenue and Indian School Road where locals, including refugees, would come to Phoenix, and grow plants and vegetables.
The garden is still officially closing for good on Wednesday. And the land is still being returned to the U.S. Department of the Interior because the developer who owned the defaulted on payments.
But the garden now has a new home, albeit slightly farther away.
Tom Waldeck, head of Make Phoenix Beautiful — the organization that oversees the garden — says they’ve now signed an agreement with a developer for a new space in the area of 18th Avenue and Pierson Street.
They plan to relocate their solar house to the new property, rebuild garden beds, clear brush and remove the two abandoned houses there. He says they are now looking for volunteers and plan to do a crowdfunding campaign to raise money.
They are continuing their mission of revitalizing urban spaces and finding temporary uses for vacant lots.
Waldeck expects the new community garden to be open for use by spring or early summer.