UPTOWN — A group of volunteers is at work planning the Clarendon Park Community Garden, a new garden that will be situated near the historic community center and field house.
"There was a demand for individual plots," said Melanie Eckner, who headed up the project and serves on the Clarendon Park Advisory Council. "I think it'll help engage people in the neighborhood."
Katharine Boyda, who also headed up the project, told roughly two dozen volunteers at a Thursday evening meeting held at the field house, 4501 N. Clarendon Ave., that they won't have to raise money to build the garden.
Ald. James Cappleman (46th), whose ward includes the park, will be providing funds for the garden beds and fencing, she said.
"That is a huge relief to all of us," said Boyda, who also serves on the Clarendon Park Advisory Council.
It's not the first community garden in the Uptown area, Eckner said. The GroGood Community Garden also calls Clarendon Park home, but its mission is to donate a portion of its harvest to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
There are other community gardens in the area that also focus on donations like the rooftop garden at Weiss Hospital, 4646 N. Marine Drive, and Gingko Garden, 4055 N. Kenmore Ave.
But this garden, which volunteers hope will become a neighborhood tradition, is for the gardeners themselves to enjoy — meaning its goal is not to make donations.
The group plans to build the garden in May.
The deteriorating Clarendon Park Community Center and Field House was recently named one of the city's most threatened buildings by a local preservation group. Built in 1916, the building now suffers from water leaks and building code violations.
Cappleman previously told DNAinfo Chicago the preservation group's designation would help "send a message" to the park district, which has threatened to tear it down in the past, and allow him to talk about more funding options. He has also said that he's interested in using tax increment financing dollars to help fund an overhaul.
While all of the garden plots have been taken this year, local residents are encouraged to help build the garden May 16.
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