The McKinley Park Community Garden, which for the past three years has maintained a popular neighborhood gardening program at 1900 W. Pershing Road, has canceled its 2016 season due to the sale of the garden's land and pending development by the new owners. In an email sent to garden members, the group announced that all 2016 gardening was canceled and that everyone who signed up for a plot would receive a refund.
The news came as a surprise to the program, not only that the season was canceled, but also that the land was for sale and then sold. Outreach to the new owners was unsuccessful, as they could not commit to holding off development or re-sale through the 2016 gardening season.
As noted in the Community Garden email sent April 5, 2016, the program will seek to find a new location and continue operations. Also, its Community Garden Plant Sale, set for Saturday, May 14, will still take place, with proceeds going toward continuing the garden program.
Following is the text of the email:
Greetings, Gardeners!
We recently received news that the land that the garden is located on was sold and now belongs to new owners. We weren't even aware that the land was for sale, so the news came as quite a surprise.
We tried negotiating an agreement with the new owners to let us use the land for another season, but unfortunately this morning we learned that they decided they couldn't commit to holding off on building and/or re-selling until next December. Sadly for us, this means that we will not be able to use the land for our community garden.
If you signed up for a plot this year, please know that you will receive a full refund. If you mailed in a check, it will be shredded rather than cashed. If you paid with a credit card via the New Member Registration, you will receive a refund via EventBrite. If you paid with a credit card via the Returning Member Registration, we will send you a check for the full amount (including the EventBrite fee), as the deadline has passed for refunding you via EventBrite. If you have any questions about a refund, please don't hesitate to reply to this email.
We are so very sorry for the inconvenience and for the disappointment. We were really excited about this new season, as many veteran community gardeners were returning, many new gardeners were joining us, and together we had many exciting ideas.
Thank you so much for your support of the garden over the last three years. It was a wonderful way to build new friendships among neighbors, and we hope those relationships extend far beyond the garden.
We hope you join us for one final hurrah at our annual Plant Sale on Saturday, May 14th, from 1-3 p.m. Come for a plant for your home garden or just to celebrate 3 great years. Stay tuned for more information about the location…we're seeking permission to use the property one last time. If not, we'll find another location. Stay tuned…
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