5 Questions With Rich Lukas: Starting a Community Garden

So you want to start a community garden.  You have the perfect spot picked out, and you’re sure that it will mobilize the community, reduce blight, and even raise property values!  But wait – wait about the zoning, the design, the maintenance, the community outreach…the financing?

For a perspective on this process, I talked to Rich Lukas, an old colleague, and President of the 13th Street Park and Community Garden, Inc.  (Rich is also the Director of Government Relations for the National Building Museum).  The story of the garden is one of how to navigate politics, build community, create public private partnerships (like the one with Casey Trees) and overcome the typical barriers that stop such projects from happening.  It’s a great case study, and I’m happy to report that the garden under construction and is opening this spring!

1. How did the 13th Street Community Park and Garden project come to be?
Early in 2007, a group of Capitol Hill neighbors came together at the request of Eric and Christie Schwalb in order to conceive a better use for the vacant at 13th and C Streets, SE, which is owned by the D.C. Housing Authority. The lot was part of DCHA’s Kentucky Courts retirement community. The group determined that a community park and garden would be a much nicer place than the existing concrete lot that became mosquito-infested with each summer’s rainstorm. Having a background in community engagement, I then approached DCHA Executive Director Mike Kelly and Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells who both embraced the idea wholeheartedly. 

Community Residents at the Design Charette. Photo courtesy www.13thstreetgarden.org

 

2. Can you speak to the process you went through to get the park from idea into construction?
In September 2007, we held a community kick-off event featuring Mayor Adrian Fenty, Councilmember Wells, and DCHA officials. Over 100 neighbors and Kentucky Courts senior residents turned out for the event. After hearing about the plans for the site, the community really embraced the idea and gave its support to the cause. Colleen Garibaldi and Liz Guthrie offered to lead our Design Committee and lend their professional architecture and landscape architecture expertise. By spring 2008 we had crafted the park and garden design through a well-attended community charrette where neighbors and Kentucky Courts residents provided their vision for the project. During this time our nonprofit group incorporated as a 501(c)(3) corporation and expanded to include nearby residents Marci Van Dyke and Jeffrey Seltzer. Colleen and I presented the design drawing to the DCHA Board and provided testimony requesting government funding for the project. We were truly fortunate that DCHA saw the value in this project and invested $250,000 for construction. Everything really seemed to be going our way!

3. What was the biggest challenge you’ve faced in getting the park built?
Well, the biggest challenge came when we encountered an unforeseen funding gap. In order to prep the vacant lot, a dumpster needed to be moved and an ADA compliant ramp needed to be built to continue access to the Kentucky Courts residents. After finalizing the engineering plans and constructing the dumpster ramp, we all realized we would need additional money to complete the project. Things were looking quite bleak, but we knew we had the commitment of Tommy Wells and DCHA. As such, we helped DCHA apply for

a Stimulus grant to continue the sustainability efforts for the senior housing complex. In September 2009, we were happily surprised that DCHA was awarded more than $34 million in competitive grants by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for seven development projects, including over $650,000 for the 13th Street Community Park and Garden. With this additional funding in place, construction of the park and garden was ensured! After bidding out the contractors, we broke ground in fall 2010 – and we are now on track for completion this spring.

4. Can you tell me more about any urban agriculture components that are planned for the park?

Roughly one quarter of the site will be dedicated to community garden plots. We have been engaging with a coalition of Capitol Hill community gardeners to learn best-practices about structuring our group and setting up the plot system. Additionally, the park will have programmed areas where people can adopt sections for their own planting purposes. We are hoping to have all of the logistics figured out by this May.

5. What is the biggest lesson that you learned from the project that you can share with someone who is interested in starting their own community garden?

In the words of Frederick Douglass, “Agitate, agitate, agitate.” This has been an unexpectedly long process – almost 4 years – and it has entailed so many different stakeholders and changing plans. At times, you have to really keep people on target in terms of the original vision of the project. For me, the vision always encompassed the community impact; the sustainability, the gardening, all of that was important but a secondary goal. It was crucial to get the buy-in from the government and our elected officials and to continue to push for committed outcomes. Lastly, get a strong group of volunteers to support the initiative. This project would not have happened whatsoever without the thousands of pro bono hours dedicated since 2007.

Thanks to Rich for taking the time for this interview – I think it’s an inspiring story for anyone looking to improve their city, and shows the commitment that goes into it.  Next week I’ll be interviewing Melissa Eddison, President of George Washington University’s Food Justice Alliance, for the student perspective on food systems. 

Like what you’re reading?  Leave a comment below or subscribe to our feed!

Posted in Interviews