Historic Community Center Finds New Life as an Urban Farm (Photo by Steve Blaque Dennis) 10/11/2014 7:00 AM By Linda McNatt Va./N.C. Correspondent PETERSBURG, Va. — The Harding Street Community Center has a long and impressive history. When it was built in the 1930s, it was meant to be a kind of performing arts center for the small city of Petersburg, not far from Virginia’s capital city of Richmond. Petersburg is likely best known for a Civil War battle in 1864 that involved abundant explosives. The battle killed thousands and actually created a crater where Union troops dug beneath Confederate lines in the center of town that existed for years. Many years later, Motown-era greats such as Sam Cooke and James Brown performed on the Harding Street stage. Later, the sounds of children laughing and playing filled the center when it was used for community recreation and after-school events. Now, the old Harding Street Center is coming into a new phase of its long history. The center is being renovated into a facility that will represent a “modern day farm” to the entire Petersburg community, said Duron Chavis, project director. Vegetables will be grown in pure water and fresh fish produced for sale, while members of the community study skills such as carpentry and plumbing to help rehabilitate the old rec center. The project is being funded through a $1.5 million grant in collaboration with Virginia State University, also located in the 24-square-mile city. Chavis is a 2010 graduate of the university with a degree in mass communications. Marcus Comer, Virginia State agriculture and human resource specialist, applied for the grant in 2012. The grant will be handed out in $500,000 increments over a period of three years. Everybody involved in the project hopes that it will soon be self-sustaining, Comer said recently. “There’s still work to be done,” he said. “We’re retrofitting it to fit the needs of the future. We want it to be a social center as well as provide food and training.” Chavis said many residents of the surrounding community still remember playing basketball at the old rec center. The basement and the gymnasium of the facility will be renovated to house facilities to grow hydroponic vegetables. Petersburg residents will have access to an array of peppers, tomatoes and other vegetables. Fresh tilapia will also be grown with the help of indoor aquaponic units. Aquaponics involves raising fish and plants together. The fish waste becomes plant fertilizer and the water is filtered by the plants. The hydroponic and aquaponic growing units also will be placed in the community center’s gymnasium. Other parts of the building will be used for nutrition classes and community outreach efforts. The produce from the urban farm will be marketed to residents through methods such as pop-up markets and reaching out to potential distribution locations such as the Department of Social Services. Chavis said the program also plans to reach those in need by accepting Virginia Electronic Benefit transfer cards. Initial repairs to the old building included repairs from a damaging flood that left mold and other problems, Chavis said. The rec center was closed for a year. With the initial repairs done, the staff moved in this month. They hope to start marketing some of the products soon, he said. “We’ve got the equipment in for growing food and we’re putting in the refrigeration equipment,” he said. “We’re looking to market the end products to restaurants. We want the facility to serve as a model for economic development. Farmers will be able to use the facility. The food will be sold to members of the community. There won’t be any membership fee or anything like that.” The center will be staffed by five members of the university’s staff as well as community volunteers. The entire facility, which will be known as the Harding Street Community Agricultural Center, has been leased to Virginia State by the city of Petersburg, a city spokesperson said. The building is two stories with a full basement and about 150,000 square feet of space. Petersburg, according to Chavis, qualifies as a “food desert,” which is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as an area that doesn’t have close and convenient access to fresh food. It’s one of the reasons the center qualified for the grant. The rehabilitation of the old building will be ongoing for some time, Comer said. Classes in carpentry and plumbing will be offered so residents can participate in the building’s rehabilitation. Community staff will be trained in how to run the growing systems, which fits into the goal of the project becoming self-sustaining. Youth outreach and work programs will also be offered. “Not only are we providing fresh and affordable food, but we are empowering people in the community to take control of their food,” Comer said. “They will be involved in harvesting and learning how to do it in a high tech way. “Everybody is excited,” he said. “We’ll be teaching people how to conduct modern day farming.” Chavis has established a combination of six community gardens, urban farms and school gardens in Richmond, under the Renew Richmond program. Linda McNatt is a freelance writer for southeast Virginia. She can be reached at nclmcnatt@gmail.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 18:50:39 +0000
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