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Abandoned school site will house Madison’s green campus
By Mali Anderson
On Madison’s south side, an underused building sits on four acres of land. This is the site of the Badger School project, a proposal that will merge several of Wisconsin’s green movements’ goals on one property. Transforming this neglected parcel into the nation’s latest green campus is an ambitious project led by the Madison-based Center for Resilient Cities. The project will utilize innovative and energy efficient design that reuses existing materials, and will practice cost-effective urban agriculture. The campus will provide indoor community spaces for education and neighborhood engagement.
“Community gardens and urban green space do a lot to build communities. They offer that unique blend of healthy foods, physical activity and community-building to bring people together,” says Tom Dunbar, Executive Director of the Center for Resilient Cities.
The merging of a neighborhood center with an urban agriculture program is a healthy modernization of the community center concept. To make this project a reality, the Center for Resilient Cities has partnered with Milwaukee-based Growing Power and Madison Area Community Land Trust.
“I consider this a wonderful partnership,” says Will Allen, CEO of Growing Power. All three groups have successful histories of renewing ignored land and creating nourishing green spaces.
At Milwaukee’s Alice’s Garden, a community garden that is part of Johnson Park, the Center for Resilient Cities ran a master gardeners program that involved all of the third graders from Brown Street Academy, the garden’s neighboring school. “We worked with Will of Growing Power off and on at Alice’s Garden; he gave advice on garden renovations,” says Dunbar.
In Madison, the Center for Resilient Cities worked with the Madison Area Community Land Trust to develop and promote Troy Gardens, an award-winning venture that has received national media attention for its community gardens, CSA farm, restored prairie and mixed-income housing community.
The Badger School project’s plan for urban agriculture is extensive. The proposal includes cultivating gardens on the property acreage and building a rooftop greenhouse on the renovated school building. These food resources will be grown for the consumption and benefit of surrounding neighborhood residents. This agricultural component will create opportunities for community members to learn how to grow food in their own yards, train in the practice of larger scale farming and explore the possibilities of generating economic profit from garden yields.
Allen says, “[Growing Power’s] expertise is developing and operating agricultural sites like this. That is our strength in this partnership; that and the fact that we can engage communities and work with youth to get the community on board.”
The areas surrounding the Badger School site could use the support. “When people think of Madison, they think of Madison as a very upscale city with no poverty. But this part of town definitely has some issues. Especially around food,” continues Allen.
The Badger School building was originally built as an elementary school in 1957. Since then, it has also been utilized for county social services offices and security file storage. In 2006, Dane County stopped using the building and the district eventually declared the site excess property. It was put up for sale in 2009.
In keeping with the Center for Resilient Cities’ mission, the plan for the Badger School site includes renovating the existing building, rather than demolishing the structure and building from the ground up. The Badger School team has thoughtfully sought out designs and strategies that will transform the structure into a state-of-the-art facility while recycling as many building materials as possible. This reuse of materials will save landfills from the extra burden of a tear down. The building will be an energy efficient community center, complete with a commercial kitchen to prepare the food that is grown on the surrounding land. The updated building will offer community residents an “opportunity to prepare food … a place to demonstrate for the neighborhood, for the city, for the region, different ways of doing things,” says Dunbar.
Once the land is secured, the community-based part of the process will begin. The Badger School project will bring individuals, community groups, schools and stakeholders together to discuss the future of the program. Farming is set to begin next spring.
“We’ll bring in compost and start demonstrating how you can grow very intensively. Having the infrastructure we have, we can get started quickly,” says Allen. The structural rehab will begin in 2011, after a year of fund raising, planning, preparation and community engagement.
Allen’s enthusiasm comes through when he speaks of the plans for 2010. “We want all these partnerships to work together to develop this really good group. We want everybody at the table in terms of this project. Community groups, the schools, everyone, whoever is in the community. We need everybody there.”
The Badger School is an exciting project that will be a resource for area residents and an inspiration to community centers around the country. For more information visit badgerschool.org.
By Mali Anderson
On Madison’s south side, an underused building sits on four acres of land. This is the site of the Badger School project, a proposal that will merge several of Wisconsin’s green movements’ goals on one property. Transforming this neglected parcel into the nation’s latest green campus is an ambitious project led by the Madison-based Center for Resilient Cities. The project will utilize innovative and energy efficient design that reuses existing materials, and will practice cost-effective urban agriculture. The campus will provide indoor community spaces for education and neighborhood engagement.
This graphic shows the planned transformation of an abandoned Madison school property into an urban farm, community center and green campus. The development is a group project between Madison’s Center for Resilient Cities and the Madison Area Community Land Trust, and Milwaukee’s Growing Power.
“Community gardens and urban green space do a lot to build communities. They offer that unique blend of healthy foods, physical activity and community-building to bring people together,” says Tom Dunbar, Executive Director of the Center for Resilient Cities.
The merging of a neighborhood center with an urban agriculture program is a healthy modernization of the community center concept. To make this project a reality, the Center for Resilient Cities has partnered with Milwaukee-based Growing Power and Madison Area Community Land Trust.
“I consider this a wonderful partnership,” says Will Allen, CEO of Growing Power. All three groups have successful histories of renewing ignored land and creating nourishing green spaces.
At Milwaukee’s Alice’s Garden, a community garden that is part of Johnson Park, the Center for Resilient Cities ran a master gardeners program that involved all of the third graders from Brown Street Academy, the garden’s neighboring school. “We worked with Will of Growing Power off and on at Alice’s Garden; he gave advice on garden renovations,” says Dunbar.
In Madison, the Center for Resilient Cities worked with the Madison Area Community Land Trust to develop and promote Troy Gardens, an award-winning venture that has received national media attention for its community gardens, CSA farm, restored prairie and mixed-income housing community.
The Badger School project’s plan for urban agriculture is extensive. The proposal includes cultivating gardens on the property acreage and building a rooftop greenhouse on the renovated school building. These food resources will be grown for the consumption and benefit of surrounding neighborhood residents. This agricultural component will create opportunities for community members to learn how to grow food in their own yards, train in the practice of larger scale farming and explore the possibilities of generating economic profit from garden yields.
Allen says, “[Growing Power’s] expertise is developing and operating agricultural sites like this. That is our strength in this partnership; that and the fact that we can engage communities and work with youth to get the community on board.”
The areas surrounding the Badger School site could use the support. “When people think of Madison, they think of Madison as a very upscale city with no poverty. But this part of town definitely has some issues. Especially around food,” continues Allen.
The Badger School building was originally built as an elementary school in 1957. Since then, it has also been utilized for county social services offices and security file storage. In 2006, Dane County stopped using the building and the district eventually declared the site excess property. It was put up for sale in 2009.
In keeping with the Center for Resilient Cities’ mission, the plan for the Badger School site includes renovating the existing building, rather than demolishing the structure and building from the ground up. The Badger School team has thoughtfully sought out designs and strategies that will transform the structure into a state-of-the-art facility while recycling as many building materials as possible. This reuse of materials will save landfills from the extra burden of a tear down. The building will be an energy efficient community center, complete with a commercial kitchen to prepare the food that is grown on the surrounding land. The updated building will offer community residents an “opportunity to prepare food … a place to demonstrate for the neighborhood, for the city, for the region, different ways of doing things,” says Dunbar.
Once the land is secured, the community-based part of the process will begin. The Badger School project will bring individuals, community groups, schools and stakeholders together to discuss the future of the program. Farming is set to begin next spring.
“We’ll bring in compost and start demonstrating how you can grow very intensively. Having the infrastructure we have, we can get started quickly,” says Allen. The structural rehab will begin in 2011, after a year of fund raising, planning, preparation and community engagement.
Allen’s enthusiasm comes through when he speaks of the plans for 2010. “We want all these partnerships to work together to develop this really good group. We want everybody at the table in terms of this project. Community groups, the schools, everyone, whoever is in the community. We need everybody there.”
The Badger School is an exciting project that will be a resource for area residents and an inspiration to community centers around the country.
