Construction is under way at the new Centretown Community Garden at Lyon and Lisgar streets after the project received final approval amid growing demand for more downtown gardens.
The Centretown Citizens Community Association’s trees and greenspace committee began work last summer to bring another community garden to the area.
Long waitlists at other local gardens were one reason for the initiative, the CCCA says.
Final approval on the new garden came from the Ottawa Catholic School Board, as it owns the lot where the garden is being built.
Liability insurance, city approval, and regulation compliance were some of the issues worked out over the past few months, says Chris Murphy, manager of maintenance and operations at OCSB.
The three-year lease was finalized several weeks ago. Talks between the CCCA and the school board began last June.
Murphy says the board welcomed the opportunity to work with the garden co-ordinators.
“The timing . . . couldn’t have been better as we celebrate our board’s spiritual theme, ‘We Care for God’s Creation,’ ” he says.
The garden received its funding from the city through an annual community garden development fund, says Terri O’Neill, co-ordinator of the Just Food community gardening network.
The fund is great for the network of community gardens since it previously didn’t have the resources to expand, O’Neill adds.
“Ottawa is very community garden-friendly,” Centretown garden volunteer Robin Lord says. “They’ve been really cooperative with us.”
Mounds of soil currently fill the site, while wooden boxes are being constructed for individual plots. The garden missed the growing season for this year, but Lord says it will be ready in the spring.
The site will hold 30 plots, which have already been reserved for a $20 annual fee.
“It’s like a little backyard for a cheap lease,” she says.